Plas Dinam Story

Eldrydd and her family were living in Australia when in 2011 they decided to move back to Wales and take on her family home at Plas Dinam.

Plas Dinam is described as “a well preserved and nationally significant example of the Domestic Revival, or ‘Old English’ style fashionable in the mid-late Victorian period, exhibiting a skillful use of traditional materials to create a successful composition. The mansion was designed and built in 1873-4 on a site previously known as Penybryn, by architect, William Eden Nesfield (1835-1888)”.   www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/29811

The gardens at Plas Dinam extend to about 13 acres are noted for their arboricultural interest with mature plantings including wellingtonia, tulip trees and oaks.  The once sweeping front lawns have been transformed to wild flower meadows, beyond which views from the house extend over parkland in a valley setting.

Once the home of a prominent industrialist, a sustainable future for the house has been achieved by its transformation into a successful wedding venue whilst maintaining the atmosphere of a much-loved family home.

From 1872 to present day

Early history

The first owner to live in the house was David Davies of Llandinam who had risen from humble beginnings to become a prominent industrialist.

In 1872-73 Plas Dinam was built for Captain Offley Crewe-Read, the deputy lieutenant of the county and JP, and a descendant of the ancient Crewe family of Flintshire and Cheshire. The family did not ever actually live at Plas Dinam, and sold it in 1884 when they ran into financial difficulty.

In 1884 Plas Dinam was bought by David Davies of Llandinam. Despite having been born into a humble family who were tenant farmers for the Crewe-Reads, David Davies went on to make a considerable fortune in the industrial revolution in Wales. He built several railway lines and then turned to coal in the Rhondda Valley, going on the build Barry docks which became the busiest port in the world at that time.

David Davies had built his own mansion Broneirion in 1884, which still stands on the opposite side of the valley to Plas Dinam. He later bought Plas Dinam for his only son Edward, who lived in the house along with his wife and three children, David, Gwendoline and Margaret. Edward died in 1898 at the age of 48, suffering from insomnia and perhaps the stresses of inheriting such large businesses and wealth.

1900 to WWII

Home of Lord Davies and his sisters Margaret and Gwendoline, famed in Wales for their contributions to politics, art and philanthropy.

David Davies grandson, also David Davies, followed the lead set by his grandfather politically. From 1906 to 1929, he was the Liberal Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire. He fought in the First World War and later was an active supporter of the League of Nations. In 1932 he established the New Commonwealth Society for ‘the promotion of international law and order’, writing several books on the right use of force, notably The Problem of the Twentieth Century(1930). David Davies also set up Tuberculosis hostels and helped eradicate the disease, built the Temple of Peace in Cardiff and did many other good works.  In 1932 he was made Lord Davies in recognition of his contribution to society .

David’s sisters, Gwendoline and Margaret, are widely known for their large early collection of French 19th century Realist, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting which they bequeathed to the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff in 1952 and 1963. They lived at nearby Gregynog Hall (another member of Historic Houses).  Their collection includes paintings by Renoir, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh and Cézanne, and sculptures by Rodin Degas and others.  The Davies Collection is a remarkable testament to the sisters’ incredibly avant-garde appreciation of art, both as female collectors and as supporters of, at that time, a largely disregarded style.

In 1910, David married his first wife Amy Penman and had two children David Michael Davies (known as Mike) and Marguerite Elizabeth. Mike married Ruth Eldrydd Dugdale and had two sons. Mike became the second Lord Davies upon the death of his father.

For a short period during the second world war Gordonstoun School was relocated from Scotland to Plas Dinam to ensure the safety of the schoolboys. The house also housed an Agricultural College for a period after the war.

Return to a family home

After losing her husband in 1944, Lady Eldrydd Davies took the momentous decision to move back to the family home that had been used by Gordonstoun school during the war.

Lady (Eldrydd) Davies, wife of the second Lord Davies, effectively inherited the house when her husband Mike was killed in action in Holland in 1944. Her father in law had died earlier in the same year. Raising two sons by herself at Llwynderw in the village, she took the momentous decision to move back into Plas Dinam in 1956 with her two sons David and Jonathan.

David had succeeded as the third Lord Davies just days prior to his fourth birthday and following his mother’s death in 1966 he took up residence at Plas Dinam. He married Bea in 1972 and they bought up their 4 children at Plas Dinam – Eldrydd, Daniel, Lucy and Ben.

In 2001 a fire devastated the top floor of the house, and over a period of 2 years parts of the roof and house were rebuilt and much of the house was redecorated.

Plas Dinam becomes a holiday let

Lord and Lady Davies downsize when Eldrydd, her husband Tyson and their young family move from Australia to take on the Davies family home, and start a business.

In 2011 the current Lord and Lady Davies decided to “downsize” and moved out. Eldrydd and her family decided to move back to the area from Australia to run Plas Dinam as a business. They arrived a few days before their first holiday booking in June 2012.

Initially living in part of the house, Eldrydd and Tyson ran Plas Dinam as a holiday let. The first improvement to be made was to renovate the “flat” which was on the first floor in one wing of the house. This was converted back to bedrooms and bathrooms. Following planning permission by CADW, other bedrooms were changed to bathrooms increasing Plas Dinam’s bathroom count from 5 to 10.

More upgrades followed including decorating, new furniture and adding a small museum. Replacing the oil boiler with a biomass boiler fed by wood chip from the local estate was a key improvement in 2013. Tyson discovered the old bread oven in an undercover area outside the back door. His clever idea of using it as a pizza oven was, and still is, a huge success, with many guests creating and cooking amazingly tasty wood fired pizzas!

Plas Dinam becomes a wedding venue

After a wedding licence is granted, weddings take place in a marquee until the stables are converted with the addition of a kitchen and loos.

A wedding license was granted in 2013 and a few weddings a year were welcome additions to bookings. These generally hired marquees or tipis on the big lawn for the reception. Eldrydd and Tyson saw opportunity in using the glass roofed stable area as an alternative to a marquee and in 2014-15 undertook repairs and renovations in order to make it suitable. The first Stables wedding was in August 2015, and it proved to be a big success! After this the number of weddings grew quickly. Other facilities such as loos and a catering kitchen were added in 2017, with a shoot using the Stables for shoot lunches during the shoot season.

In 2017 Tyson started work renovating the Lodge in order to provide further accommodation for wedding guests. The next project was the Chauffeurs loft above the Stables which housed all the estate files, accounts and letters from 1900 to 1956. Eldrydd and Tyson realised that archiving all the files was a task too big so these were donated to the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth (coincidentally built by Edward Davies) for archiving, where they joined the rest of the archives of both David Davies’. The low ceilings and beams were raised and the space seemingly expanded! Tyson converted it to a kitchen, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, and work was completed in early 2020.

To the present day

As wedding bookings increase, additional staff are taken on and further improvements continue to be made to this much loved family home and wedding venue.

2020 saw a large increase in the number of wedding bookings so a dedicated wedding manager joined the team and the glass roof of the stables was replaced with non-leaky, see through glass. However, the pandemic hit and all weddings that year were postponed or cancelled. Holiday bookings in the Lodge and the Loft became about the only source of income!

2021 started on a similar note, but finally, from June 2021, weddings and larger gatherings were able to take place. The purchase of a large stretch marquee allowed for outdoor ceremonies and the outdoor nature of the Stables meant that we were back to business, though going from nothing for 20 months to flat out was a huge challenge. 

Numbers of bookings have grown each year since, allowing continuing improvements to the house and grounds and a growing team.

Our ethos

We love Plas Dinam and as 5th generation owners we see ourselves as custodians of this amazing house and beautiful, unknown area of Wales. This historic country house has been nestled in the stunning Severn valley since 1873: we strive to minimise our impact on the environment to ensure that this welcoming home and beautiful scenery will be enjoyed for decades to come. We share in the excitement as you and your guests discover this hidden gem and fall for it too! The wild Cambrian mountains, ancient trees, flowers and abundant wildlife are waiting to be enjoyed.

Sustainability

Eldrydd and Tyson are passionate about making Plas Dinam as sustainable as possible, with aims of becoming B corp certified.

Plas Dinam is heated via a biomass boiler which is fueled by airdried woodchip harvested from the Dinam estate. The wood is collected from within a couple of miles from Plas Dinam and after drying for 2 seasons it is chipped into the store alongside the boiler. The woods are carefully managed and replanted. Thus this system is sustainable and carbon neutral.

We recycle and reuse to reduce our carbon footprint and use local, independent eco-friendly wedding suppliers wherever possible. We don’t believe in buying new products unnecessarily and prefer to reuse and repair whenever we can. We use eco-friendly and sustainable cleaning products and skincare products. The majority of our contact with guests is conducted via email or phone and we aim to run a  paper free office. We provide luxury, locally made toiletries in the bathrooms at Plas Dinam and re-fill these from larger containers to prevent unnecessary wastage. Plas Dinam’s electricity supply is 100% renewable energy.

When hosting weddings at Plas Dinam we encourage our guests to use eco-friendly and sustainable options when planning and decorating for their big day and to reduce waste. Keeping everything as eco-friendly as possible at our wedding venue is super important to us.

4000

Visitors made up of wedding guests, venue hire and invitation to view

11

Full time employees

Plas Dinam is open for Invitation to View tours, weddings and events and offers discounts for members of Historic Houses.

Visit Plas Dinam on the UK website

Our Reviews

 

Best weekend ever

Rebecca C. , married on 30/03/2024

We booked Plas Dinam with around 10 weeks to plan a wedding, something which could have been stressful (especially with a baby too), but Eldrydd and Lou made the process easy. Lou was always at the end of an email/Whatsapp to answer any queries and give advice, she was amazing and made us feel completely at ease from the very beginning.
Due to the time of year and number of guests, we held our wedding in the house and it was just perfect. We had an intimate ceremony in the gorgeous drawing room, drinks and canapés in the sitting room and feasting in the great hall. In the evening, the drawing room was transformed into a dance floor with a sound system set up by a great local company.
The house and lodge accommodated all of our guests over the Easter weekend. The house is beautiful, full of history and extremely well equipped. On Sunday, we made use of the onsite pizza oven which was fantastic and a great way to get everyone involved in the cooking! Tyson was great setting up and demonstrating how to use the pizza oven and the pizzas were delicious, this was a real highlight of the weekend.
It was important to us that our wedding was relaxed and enjoyable for everyone, Plas Dinam was the absolute perfect venue for this and we wish we could do it over and over again. A lot of our guests have said it was the best wedding they’ve ever been to!

 

The most magical weekend

Natasha S. , married on 01/07/2023

We had our wedding weekend here! I cant even begin to explain our experience. The house and grounds itself are absolutely stunning, it all went so perfectly. We had a pizza party on the Friday night using their pizza oven, Saturday the morning of the wedding was unreal, we went for a walk to the swimming lake and went for a swim, it was glorious. Such a chilled and magical experience. It’s your house for the weekend so everyone genuinely felt at home and when we needed help Louise was on the other end of the phone, she was brilliant throughout the whole process and guided us to the perfect weekend and wedding. We got most of our suppliers from a list they provided with trusted suppliers of everything and there was not one disappointment. Worth every penny, if only we could take everyone back there for our first anniversary 🤗 highly highly recommended!!

 

Truly Stunning

Lucy M. , married on 03/06/2023

This is a beautiful house that balances space and style with a homeliness. The grounds and countryside are stunning and enable walks, swimming and fun. The morning of our wedding friends were rolling out of bed and going for runs, or swimming in the wild lakes. Others were just clustered around the kitchen table. We married in the woodland which was perfect for us but there are lots of options.
Throughout the planning Louise and Eldrydd were helpful and responsive. Lots of advice on timing and set up. We used lots of wonderful local suppliers I would also recommend pastries from Andy’s bread (“these are better than in France” was one comment!!) to local chocolate! Our flowers were also done by a lady from the village (Jane).

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