Erddig

Erddig is a late seventeenth-century country house on the southern edge of Wrexham, cared for by the National Trust and widely regarded as one of the most evocative historic homes in Wales. Built in the 1680s and extended by the Yorke family, who owned the estate for more than 240 years, it is unusual for the warmth and continuity of the relationship between the family and their staff.

The house is famous for its servants' quarters, which are presented on an equal footing with the grand state rooms. Visitors pass through laundries, bakehouse, sawmill, smithy and stables before reaching the elegant saloon, dining room and tapestry-hung state bedroom. The Yorkes commissioned portraits and verses celebrating their gardeners, carpenters and housekeepers, and these hang in the servants' hall as a unique record of below-stairs life.

Outside, the formal walled garden has been restored to its early eighteenth-century layout, with clipped yews, fruit trees and a long canal pond. The wider parkland offers waymarked walks through woodland and meadows beside the Black Brook, with views towards the Clywedog Valley. There is a tearoom, second-hand bookshop and plant sales area near the visitor entrance.