Ystumllyn

{{Infobox historic site |name=Ystumllyn |image=Stymlin, 1794.jpg | image_size = 300px | map_relief = yes |built=late-16th-century | locmapin = Wales Gwynedd # United Kingdom |location=Criccieth, Gwynedd, Wales |caption=Ystumllyn in 1794 by John Ingleby |coordinates= {{coord|52|55|33.53|N|4|12|18.53|W|display=inline,title}} |architecture=Vernacular | designation1 = Grade II* | designation1_date = 12 December 1994 | designation1_number = 4291 }}

'''Ystumllyn''' is a Grade II* listed house in Criccieth, Wales. Founded in the late-16th-century, and significantly expanded in the early-18th-century, it is remarkable as an "important example" of the vernacular architecture of both periods.

==History== The house was apparently built at the end of the 16th century by Ellis ap Cadwaladr (d. 1597),{{sfn|British Listed Buildings}} a member of the Welsh Ellis family, which claimed to trace its lineage back to {{interlanguage link|Gollwyn ap Tangno|cy}}, founder of one of the Fifteen Tribes of Wales.{{sfn|Davies|1959}} Ellis obtained the property from the Crown,{{sfn|British Listed Buildings}} and is the first member of the family to be described as "of Ystumllyn".{{sfn|RCAHMW|1964a|p=240}} When it was first built, the house was likely one of the earliest storied buildings in the region.{{sfn|British Listed Buildings}} Before 20th-century renovations, the house bore two dated inscriptions of 1720 and 1729 giving a likely date for the extensive 18th-century remodeling and extensions.{{sfn|British Listed Buildings}} The owner in this period was Rev. Humphrey Wynn (d. 1724),{{sfn|Davies|1959}} whose initials are featured on the earlier of these inscriptions.{{sfn|RCAHMW|1964a|p=239}} By 1725, it was in possession of Ellis Wynn (d. 1759) who held in until his death.{{sfn|Green|2019}} In 1824, the estate passed to philologist Rowland Jones.{{sfn|Davies|1959}} The roof was raised and the fenestration was remodeled in the 19th century.{{sfn|RCAHMW|1964a|p=239}} In {{circa|1946}}, J. Egbert Griffiths of Porthmadog carried out several minor alterations, adding some extra windows and rearranging the internal room structure.{{sfn|British Listed Buildings}} On 12 December 1994, the building was designated a Grade II* listed building,{{sfn|British Listed Buildings}} a listing reserved for "particularly important buildings of more than special interest".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/what-is-designation/listed-buildings/ |title=Listed Buildings |website=Historic England |access-date=28 October 2019 }}</ref>

The house was home to several local notables throughout its history. The Welsh poet {{interlanguage link|Gruffydd Phylip|cy}} (d. 1666) composed several poems addressed to the Ellis family, including a poem directly referencing the house, "{{lang|cy|Hiraeth y bardd am Ystumllyn}}" ("The Bard's Longing for Ystumllyn").{{sfn|Davies|1959}} John Ystumllyn (d. 1786), who took his name from the household, was employed by the Wynn family at this estate as a gardener and survived as the first well-recorded black person of North Wales. He was of uncertain origins, and was possibly kidnapped from Africa by the Wynn family, but lived out a happy life in Ystumllyn, eventually running away with and marrying a local woman.{{sfn|Green|2019}}

==Architecture== 250px|left|thumb|Chronological plan of Ystumllyn. Ystumllyn is a rubble-built house of two stories, composed of two blocks arranged into a T-shaped plan. The east-facing block is the earliest part of the building, dating to the late 16th century, while the north-facing block (which bisects the east block) was constructed in the early 18th century.{{sfn|RCAHMW|1964a|p=239}} The building has been described as historically remarkable in the ''British Listed Buildings''{{'}} rationale for registering it as a Grade II* listed building; its original component "incorporates an important example" of 16th-century architecture, while its 18th-century additions "represent high quality vernacular work of the period".{{sfn|British Listed Buildings}}

==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed" heights=200> File:Ystumllyn, hall, late 16th-century, Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Caernarvonshire.png|Large hall in the south of the original block, 16th-century.{{sfn|RCAHMW|1964a|p=239}} File:Ystumllyn, door, late 16th-century, Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Caernarvonshire.png|Original doorway in the east side of the original block, 16th-century.{{sfn|RCAHMW|1964a|p=239}} File:Ystumllyn, panel in hall, late 16th-century, Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Caernarvonshire.png|Panel in hall, left of fireplace, depicts the arms of Owain Gwynedd (1100–1170), king of Gwynedd.{{sfn|RCAHMW|1964a|p=239}} File:Ystumllyn, bedroom door, 18th-century, Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Caernarvonshire.png|North bedroom door, 18th-century. One of the few remaining unmodernised parts of the north wing.{{sfn|RCAHMW|1964a|p=240}} File:Ystumllyn, S. bedroom, 18th-century, Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Caernarvonshire.png|Fireplace in south bedroom, 18th-century.{{sfn|RCAHMW|1964a|p=240}} File:Ystumllyn, staircase, early 18th-century, Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Caernarvonshire.png|Staircase, reassembled during 18th-century renovations.{{sfn|RCAHMW|1964a|p=240}} </gallery>

==References== {{reflist}}

==Sources== {{refbegin}} * {{cite web |title=Ystumllyn: A Grade II* Listed Building in Criccieth (Cricieth), Gwynedd |url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/300015355-ystumllyn-criccieth |website=British Listed Buildings |access-date=28 October 2019 |ref={{harvid|British Listed Buildings}} }} * {{cite encyclopedia |last=Davies |first=William Llewelyn |author-link=William Llewelyn Davies |date=1959 |title= ELLIS family, of Bron y Foel and Ystumllyn, Ynyscynhaearn, Caernarfonshire |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Welsh Biography |url=https://biography.wales/article/s-ELLI-YNY-1354? }} * {{cite ODNB |last=Green |first=Andrew |date=10 October 2019 |title=Ystumllyn, John (d. 1786) |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-112797 }} * {{cite book |author=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |date=1964a |title=An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Caernarvonshire: II Central: the Cantref of Arfon and the Commote of Eifionydd |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TGPu616n3vsC |ref={{harvid|RCAHMW|1964a}} }} * {{cite book |author=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |date=1964b |title=An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Caernarvonshire: III West: the Cantref of Lleyn together with the General Survey |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bkTkS4CZf3oC |ref={{harvid|RCAHMW|1964b}} }} {{refend}}

==External links== * [https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/17059/details/ystumllyn Ystumllyn Site Details at Colfein]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ystumllyn}} Category:Criccieth Category:Grade II* listed buildings in Gwynedd Category:Houses in Gwynedd