A 500-acre estate that spent 11 centuries in the same family, for sale for only the second time in its history

The hill above the ancient village of Llanfair Talhaiarn, one of many hidden villages that line the lovely valley of the Elwy in North Wales, is the idyllic setting for the historic 507-acre Garthewin estate. This is an ancient part of an ancient land, which for centuries belonged to the Wynne family, descendants of Marchudd ap Cynon, the 9th-century founder of the eighth Noble Tribe of North Wales.

Today the estate and the grand house at its centre are for sale for only the second time in its history, with the Chester office of Fisher German quoting a guide price of £4.5 million for the 507 acre estate.

Garthewin Hall itself, the sprawling mansion that's the centrepiece of this property, first appears in the historical records in the 14th century, when, according to Cadw, it was the home of a junior branch of the Wynne family of nearby Melai, descendants of the aforementioned Marchudd ap Cynon. In the early 17th century, Robert Wynne married Margaret Price, the heiress of Garthewin, after which the Elizabethan farmhouse that replaced the original house was knocked down, as was the Jacobean house that succeeded it.

In about 1700, Dr Robert Wynne, chancellor of St Asaph and vicar of Gresford, rebuilt Garthewin as an elegant, nine-bay country house, incorporating some of the earlier 17th-century building in its rear pile. His house is essentially that which survives today, although a new façade and various cosmetic alterations were undertaken between 1767 and 1772 for Robert Wynne, the chancellor’s grandson, who was High Sheriff of Denbighshire in 1769. These were carried out by Chester architect Joseph Turner and involved the addition of a three-storey brick façade and a pedimented entrance.

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Between 1800 and 1810, a single-storey ballroom was added at the south-west corner and a picturesque tower behind the ballroom on the west side was built in about 1870. In 1930, following a period of neglect, the house was restored for R. O. F. Wynne by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, creator of nearby Portmeirion. At this point, the façade was stuccoed, the entrance was moved to the west and a new paved garden-front terrace, with a pavilion designed to visually balance the ballroom extension, was added. At the same time, a workshop was converted into a chapel and the stables into a private theatre.

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The glory days of the 1930s were a distant memory when, in 1995, Menna MacBain, the last of the Wynnes to own Garthewin, abandoned the unequal struggle to maintain the increasingly dilapidated property. The following year, Grade II*-listed Garthewin Hall and its surrounding estate were acquired by Michael Murray Grime.

Mr Grime spent much of the rest of his life — until his death in September last year — renovating and restoring the 11-bedroom hall and its Grade II*-listed outbuildings, together with the terrace walls, steps and gazebo, the chapel, Garthewin Farmhouse, The Book Room (a charming two-storey cottage) and a ruined dovecote, all listed Grade II.

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The hall and its self-contained, three-bedroom flat provide more than 14,200sq ft of living space in total, including four reception rooms and 11 bedrooms in the main house, with further accommodation in five tenanted cottages and houses.

Gardening was Mr Grime’s great passion and, from the outset, he set about restoring Garthewin’s eight acres of formal gardens originally laid out in about 1710, ‘but just a bog surrounded by overgrown trees’ when he first arrived.

The formal south-facing lawns sit to the front of the house, with a croquet lawn linked to the main lawns via a bridge through the ha-ha wall. To the south-west of the house are two ornamental lakes surrounded by established shrubberies, including some wonderful native trees and many exotic specimens — only some of the countless trees planted at Garthewin during Mr Grime’s tenure.

The land includes 248½ tenanted acres at ring-fenced Ty Mawr Farm, with 60 acres of let grassland and rough grazing behind the hall and a further 10 let acres of grazing and woodland adjoining the gardens and grounds.

A further 117 acres of upland grazing is let on a farm business tenancy, with some 52 acres of commercially managed woodland retained in-hand by the owner. For selling agent Michael Harris of Fisher German, ‘the sale of Garthewin is a rare opportunity to acquire a spectacular upland estate, which offers immediate income from its cottages and farmstead, with considerable potential for further diversification and income creation’.

The Garthewin Estate is for sale via Fisher German at £4.5 million — see more details and pictures.