Anwyl of Parc and Llugwy Hall
A Welsh gentry family, seated at Parc in Llanfrothen and later at Llugwy Hall in Pennal, Merionethshire, documented from the 16th to the early 20th century in two Cadw-listed houses and the Dictionary of Welsh Biography.
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- Established
- 1500s
- Location
- Llanfrothen and Pennal, Gwynedd, Wales
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Historic seats
- Parc, Llanfrothen (16th–early 18th century); Llugwy Hall, Pennal (from at least 1695)
- Founder of the line
- Robert ap Morris (died 1576)
- Listed status
- Parc: Grade II*, listed 28 April 1952. Llugwy Hall: Grade II, listed 25 May 2000
- Notable office
- High Sheriff of Merioneth, held by multiple family members across the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries
Overview
The Anwyl family were a gentry family of Merionethshire (now part of Gwynedd), seated first at Parc in Llanfrothen and later at Llugwy Hall in Pennal. Cadw’s official listing describes Parc as “the ancient and chief seat of the Anwyls, one of the most notable families of Meirionnydd in the Tudor and Stuart periods” (Cadw). The line traces to Robert ap Morris, who died in 1576 and was a junior branch of the Clenennau family; his descendants either adopted the surname Roberts or retained the “Anwyl” baptismal name of a forebear (Dictionary of Welsh Biography).
Parc, Llanfrothen
William Lewis Anwyl, who served as High Sheriff of Merioneth in 1610 and 1623 and of Caernarfonshire in 1636, substantially expanded Parc in the early 17th century; his 1641 will refers to the “newly-built plas,” corroborated by a contemporary poem by Huw Machno praising “his new house of great construction” and describing its gardens, orchards, walls and towers (Cadw). The house standing today at Parc is dated externally to 1671, its stone bearing the initials of Lewis and Katherine Anwyl, who had married in 1668 (Cadw). Katherine Anwyl, who outlived her sons, is separately recorded as a patroness of Welsh literature (Dictionary of Welsh Biography). Multiple family members held the office of High Sheriff of Merioneth across the 17th century, including Richard Anwyl (1658–59) and Robert Anwyl (1650) (Dictionary of Welsh Biography).
Llugwy Hall, Pennal
A separate branch of the family became associated with Llugwy Hall in Pennal from at least 1695, when Maurice Anwyl came into his wife Joan’s inheritance there (Cadw). The earlier part of the surviving building is said to date from 1611, with a 1746 datestone marking a later enlargement and a substantial c. 1890 expansion in neo-Jacobean style; part of the building was demolished around 1963 after the hall had become a hotel (Coflein). Robert Charles Anwyl, a Justice of the Peace and High Sheriff of the county, died in 1900 and was among the last of the family connected with the house; the family’s heraldic motto and coat of arms are reported to survive, plastered over, within its porch (Cadw).
What this profile does not claim
The family’s recorded tradition of descent from Owain Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd, is reported as a tradition documented within the listed-building records themselves, not as independently established fact. No claim is made about any living person as a current head of the family, since no independently published source could be found to support one. This profile does not use the title “Anwyl of Tywyn,” since the historic seats documented in primary sources are Parc and Llugwy Hall; a later junior branch’s move to a place called “Towyn” in Denbighshire — a different location from the town of Tywyn in Gwynedd — is noted but is not treated as the family’s defining seat.
Timeline
- 1500s
- Robert ap Morris, a junior branch of the Clenennau family, settles at Parc, Llanfrothen, and begins the family's building programme there.
- 1610
- William Lewis Anwyl serves as High Sheriff of Merioneth, an office he or descendants hold repeatedly over the following century.
- 1641
- William Lewis Anwyl's will references the "newly-built plas" at Parc, corroborating a contemporary poem describing its gardens, orchards, walls and towers.
- 1671
- The present main house at Parc is dated externally, its stone bearing the initials of Lewis and Katherine Anwyl, married 1668.
- 1695
- Maurice Anwyl inherits property at Llugwy, Pennal, through his wife Joan, beginning the family's association with Llugwy Hall.
- 1900
- Robert Charles Anwyl, a Justice of the Peace and High Sheriff of the county, dies; he was among the last of the family associated with Llugwy Hall.
- 1963
- Part of Llugwy Hall, by then a hotel, is demolished and replaced with modern accommodation buildings.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- A family tradition, recorded within the Cadw and Coflein listings themselves rather than verified by either body, claims descent from Owain Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd (c. 1100–1170). This is reported here as a recorded family tradition, not as an established fact.
- No independent, reliably published source could confirm any living person as a current head of this family or family name-holder. No such claim is made in this profile.
- The primary listed-building text for both houses was read via a third-party mirror of the official Cadw record (britishlistedbuildings.co.uk) rather than Cadw's own Cof Cymru database directly, which could not be loaded during research. The content is consistent with Cadw's standard listing format and is treated as reliable, but should be cross-checked against Cof Cymru directly if it is ever revised.
Sources
5 sources (4 tier 1, 1 tier 3), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
Each source below was fetched and read against the claim it supports. This profile follows the naming used by Cadw's own listed-building records and the Dictionary of Welsh Biography — "Anwyl of Parc" and the Llugwy Hall branch — rather than "Anwyl of Tywyn," a title used elsewhere that does not match the historic seats documented in these primary sources. A separate reference locates a later, junior line of descendants as farmers at "Towyn" in Denbighshire, a different place from the well-known coastal town of Tywyn in Gwynedd; that reference is not sufficient to rename this profile and is noted here rather than adopted.
- Parc, Llanfrothen (listed building record, Grade II*) Supports: Parc's status as "the ancient and chief seat of the Anwyls," the founding by Robert ap Morris, William Lewis Anwyl's expansion and shrievalties, and the 1671 datestone.
- Llugwy Hall, Pennal (listed building record, Grade II) Supports: Llugwy Hall's association with the Anwyl family from 1695, the family's descent claim as recorded in the listing, and Robert Charles Anwyl's death in 1900.
- Llugwy Hall (Llugwy Hotel) Supports: The building's architectural and structural history, including its 1611 core, 1746 and c.1890 expansions, and 1963 partial demolition.
- ANWYL family, of Park, Llanfrothen, Meironnydd Supports: The full family history from Robert ap Morris through the early 18th century, offices held, and Katherine Anwyl's role as a patroness of Welsh literature.
- 154. Anwyl of Parc and Llugwy Hall Supports: Corroborating narrative detail, including the location of a later junior branch's descendants as farmers at "Towyn" in Denbighshire.
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