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Be scared as evening tours return to Plas Mawr in 2011.

Following a complete sell-out of its evening tours during 2010 at Plas Mawr in Conwy, Cadw, the Welsh Assembly Government's historic environment service, is bringing Blodwen the maid out of the shadows in 2011. Two tours will take place every Thursday, starting from April 14th 2011. The hour-long tours, which can accommodate up to 22 persons at a time, will take place at 6pm and again at 7.30pm.  The tours will increase to twice weekly during the summer months with private tour requests also considered subject to availability.

Centuries-old Plas Mawr in Conwy, north Wales has many secrets and stories to tell and the out of hours visitor experiences have been a runaway success at the Townhouse. Blodwen the maid has enthralled hundreds over the summer of tourists and locals alike as she explored the hidden crevices and threw light on the mysteries associated with this grand Elizabethan residence.
 
Blue Badge guide Rhian Wyn Jones will play the part of Blodwen again as she peels back the layers of history to offer an entraining journey into the intriguing past of this supposedly haunted house.
 
Plas Mawr is a particularly dramatic testimony to the new wealth available to the Tudor gentry in Wales after the Act of Union and is architecturally elaborate with its lavish interior decoration, its ornate fireplaces and colourful intricate plasterwork.
 
This was the house of Robert Wynn (d. 1598), whose initials - R.W. - appear so frequently on its ornamental plasterwork. Having travelled widely in Europe, Robert Wynn married at the age of fifty and bought land for his new house in Conwy. In its design he incorporated elements that were fashionable in London and beyond, as well as reminders of his own and his wife's family connections with the gentry families of Wales. Specialist plasterers created decorative schemes in the main rooms that incorporated heraldic emblems of the families to whom Robert Wynn was related.
 
Rhian Wyn Jones, who lives in Conwy herself, said, "I have been thrilled with the response to the evening tours at Plas Mawr and it's great to back for more in 2011. There was an obvious need for more out of hours events in Conwy and it's great to see such a positive response from the public and travel trade alike.
 
"From the old passageways to the eerie pentagrams to ward off evil spirits there's plenty to make your hair stand on end but there will also be plenty of fun along the way. I'm looking forward to sharing the wonders of Plas Mawr for those brave enough to join me."   
 
Tickets for the Plas Mawr evening tours will be available from April 1st on 01492 580167, priced at £6.00.
 

 

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This news story was published on: 04/03/2011