It was Father’s Day, so having been woken up with cards and gifts, had breakfast in bed courtesy of the kids – bacon butty and a cup of coffee – we thought we’d head out for the day.
No theme parks today! We have National Trust passes to use after our trip to Stonehenge, so we thought we’d explore one of the local properties and see what it had to offer.
We visited Erddig Hall in Wrexham, a beautiful stately home formerly owned by the Yorke family and now maintained by the National Trust. Only a 20-minute drive for us, we headed out at 10am. The grounds and gardens at Erddig Hall are open from 10am, but the main house itself opens a little later at 11.30am, but there is plenty to see and do before then.
After parking up (parking is free), we scanned our passes and we’re given a map of the estate from the friendly staff member at the desk (which itself is located in an old barn, fitted with equipment from the estate) and headed into a small yard with some carvings and picnic benches, which leads into the main courtyard area. Here, you’ll find the Parlour (selling drinks, ice cream and some amazing looking and smelling, freshly baked pasties and sausage rolls – they were filling them as I was grabbing a coffee.), book shop, gift shop (they’d better have a magnet), restaurant and toilets.
After hitting the Parlour for a coffee (latte, large, £3.60) and Cornettos for the kids we made our way for a stroll in the gardens.
We checked out a little ‘nook’ area in the wall with some seats, while the kids polished off their Cornettos, then walked away from the main building down the right-hand garden path. This area was divided up by small hedges into smaller gardens, each with centrepiece flower beds. At the end of the path was a kooky little playhouse with a few chairs in and the most bizarre, wooden carved pumpkin face we’ve ever seen. It’s a bit weird, but the kids found it funny. At the corner of this section is a path that leads into the woods to the right and a pond straight ahead with some large fish that were desperate for food! Further to the left was another pond, littered with lilies and reeds. It had a walk in/out section as this may have been used as the old swimming or boating pond.
The Wolfs Den
We carried on around the outside of the impressive gardens towards the far wall and back upwards towards the house. It’s here that the kids found their happy place – The Wolfs Den.
The Wolfs Den is an outdoor play area with lots of wooden climbing rails and stepping logs. At one end is an area full of long sticks for den building, which I’m rubbish at, but Evan and Elliott enjoyed having a go at. There’s also a small play fort for smaller kids. Back down the other end, there’s more climbing logs and balance beams, leading towards a rope swing attached to a tree. Both kids loved the swing and had a few turns. Watch out on wet days in the Wolfs Den, the logs get slippy. We did have a minor incident, but all was ok.
There are some great carvings of wolves and some carved toadstools strewn around, and aside from these and the playthings, there are picnic benches, a small hut, recycling bins and a compostable toilet! Fancy!
After 20 mins or so, we walked up to and passed the house for a look at the other side. Amazing views across the fields below. A nice view to wake up to or to sit outside with a brew and the morning paper.
From here, we followed the path around to a garage courtyard which houses a few vintage cars that were kept in good condition. You can also enter the house from in here, and as it was after 11.30am, we did. As with many properties of this kind, you are asked to carry any rucksacks/backpacks in your hand or there is a bag check at Erddig if you’d prefer. They don’t want you turning around and knocking over a priceless vase with a stray backpack!
Inside Erddig Hall
The gentleman at the entrance today was very knowledgeable and explained in detail about the motorbikes kept at the house entrance. What they were and who they belonged to. He also wasn’t in the least surprised that even though I was local, I hadn’t been to Erddig Hall before. Apparently, the house plays host to guests from all over the world, but not so many locals.
We did our tour of the house, checking out the grand living spaces, large kitchen areas, rooms adorned with artworks, swords and guns, a very posh dining room, a fancy music room featuring a very ornate working organ, study/library, and a computer room. Wait, what??
Upstairs took us to the hall’s bedrooms, each with a decorated four-poster bed and the furnishings you’d expect of the period.
The next room was a children’s playroom, so the kids took an interest here, pointing out all the toys, games and books on view. A doll’s house, Noah’s ark complete with wooden animals, flags of the world picture, a very detailed rocking horse and a large train loaded with teddies.
Into the bathroom with what must be one of the oldest and craziest showers I’ve ever seen. It was a basin on the floor with four poles holding up a top bucket with holes in it and a chain to open the water. Thank God for modern plumbing!
We passed through another corridor covered in paintings, chests and displays and into a master bedroom. This one protected by Perspex windows all around to protect the furnishings and wallpaper. It also looked like some restoration work was going on in here.
We headed back down the staircase towards the chapel room, a small area at the side of the hall with many ornate wooden decorations and 3 stained glass windows.
Leading to the way out, there is one room with a glass cabinet full of curiosities in and around it, from skulls and bones to plates and rocks, and more odd-looking things – and even a small cannon.
One last walk around the Gardens
Outside, and after the kids had a brief runaround, we tried to locate the ‘Cup and Saucer’ – a late 1700s monumental waterfall – which must be just outside the grounds as we couldn’t find an easy path to it, so we headed back through the centre of the gardens, with me, still amazed how they make trees grow in perfect formation with branches all angled neatly toward one another. There was something else I’d seen on google maps while scouting the area that I wanted to find – the Druid statue.
It’s located in a small, wooded area at the foot of the gardens, next to the pond. It’s a sculpture depicting a druid, set in a thinking pose (not quite a Brucey pose, but you get the idea), holding a staff. I thought it was cool. Felt a bit mythical hiding out here in the woods!
Back around the pond and through the gardens up to the Wolfs Den for another quick climbing, swinging and slipping session. As Erddig isn’t the usual kind of place kids would want to go, this really helped our day out, especially for Elliott who isn’t interested in seeing these types of places as yet, so breaking up the day with a great little play area keeps him interested and less bored – and I don’t have to carry his lazy legs around!
Back to the main courtyard where the smell of freshly baked pies from the restaurant was making me hungry – we’ll definitely have to try one next time we visit! We took a quick look around the shop (Jo said they didn’t have magnets. Good news – they did and I found them), which sold the usual locally made products, books, garden items, nick-nacks for the kids and locally produced foods and drinks.
There are plenty of things to see at Erddig Hall, and several long walks around the estate are shown on the guide map which would be nice to do, so we’d definitely visit again. Overall, a nice morning out!
