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Home » War and Rebellion » Wars of the Roses (1455-87) » Wars of the Roses (1455-87)

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  • Llys Euryn was a fortified manor house which was built in the mid 15th century for Robin, eldest son of Gruffydd Goch who led the old Welsh tribal division of Rhos. It was a large and very well appointed building for its time and was fortified because of the invasions of north Wales that occurred during the Wars of the Roses. A contemporary bardic poem described '3 fair stories' and the building had a slate roof pegged in place by oak nails. The external walls were three feet thick and the external windows were all narrow defensible slits. The hall was improved during its peaceful first hundred years but the family fortunes declined and it was sold to pay off debts. By 1763 it was probably derelict, robbed of any useful material until it became a mere shell. Source: http://www.castlewales.com/euryn.html
Llys Euryn, Rhos-on-Sea: view from south, 1954
  • Llys Euryn was a fortified manor house which was built in the mid 15th century for Robin, eldest son of Gruffydd Goch who led the old Welsh tribal division of Rhos. It was a large and very well appointed building for its time and was fortified because of the invasions of north Wales that occurred during the Wars of the Roses. A contemporary bardic poem described '3 fair stories' and the building had a slate roof pegged in place by oak nails. The external walls were three feet thick and the external windows were all narrow defensible slits. The hall was improved during its peaceful first hundred years but the family fortunes declined and it was sold to pay off debts. By 1763 it was probably derelict, robbed of any useful material until it became a mere shell. Source: http://www.castlewales.com/euryn.html
Llys Euryn, Rhos on Sea: east wall, 1954
  • Llys Euryn was a fortified manor house which was built in the mid 15th century for Robin, eldest son of Gruffydd Goch who led the old Welsh tribal division of Rhos. It was a large and very well appointed building for its time and was fortified because of the invasions of north Wales that occurred during the Wars of the Roses. A contemporary bardic poem described '3 fair stories' and the building had a slate roof pegged in place by oak nails. The external walls were three feet thick and the external windows were all narrow defensible slits. The hall was improved during its peaceful first hundred years but the family fortunes declined and it was sold to pay off debts. By 1763 it was probably derelict, robbed of any useful material until it became a mere shell. Source: http://www.castlewales.com/euryn.html
Llys Euryn, Llandrillo-yn-Rhos: rebuilt diagonal chimney and fireplace, 1954
  • One of a pair of panel-back armchairs believed to have belonged to Sir Rhys ap Thomas (1449 - 1525) after he was presented with the honour of Knight of the Garter in 1505 by Henry VII following the battle of Bosworth (1485). He was thereafter a prominent figure across south-west Wales where he operated from his seats at Dinefwr and Carew Castle. It was at Carew in 1507 that he held a tournament to celebrate his election to the Order of the Garter, and it is believed that the two armchairs were commissioned to commemorate this momentous occasion. The chairs display the personal arms of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, carved on the back panel and enclosed within the Garter and its famous motto 'Honi soit qui mal y pense' ('Shame be to him who thinks evil of it'). The armchairs remained in the possession of Sir Rhys ap Thomas' decendants, at the seat of Lord Dynevor, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, until 1970 when they were loaned to the Museum of Welsh Life and subsequently purchased in 1999 by the Museum.
The armchair of Rhys ap Thomas, Dinefwr, early 16th century [image 1 of 2]
  • Ty Gwyn, Barmouth, dates back to 1460 and was built by Gruffydd Fychan of Corsygedol. It was during this period that the two royal houses of York and Lancaster were fighting each other in the long-running 'Wars of the Roses'. Although the majority of the gentry families of Gwynedd supported the house of York, Gruffydd Fychan was a keen supporter of the house of Lancaster and it is said that he built Ty Gwyn as a meeting place for his fellow Lancastrian supporters. Ty Gwyn stands right on the edge of the sea - it was described by the poet Tudur Penllyn as 'a house built in the waves' (Ty a'i hanner mewn tonnau) - and was therefore not only considered a safe landing place but was also conveniently placed if there was a need to escape quickly by sea. In 1468, it is said that Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, and one of the most active Lancastrian supporters, landed on the north Wales coast, probably near Barmouth, on his way to Denbigh. Ty Gwyn was restored during the early 1980s and is open to visitors. It now houses the collection of the 'Bronze Bell' wreck, a ship which foundered off the shore of Dyffryn Ardudwy, near Barmouth, early in the eighteenth century.
Half-timbered ceiling, Ty Gwyn, Barmouth [image 1 of 2]