The history of Trefriw, Crafnant House & our story

Our village, Trefriw, in Eryri | Snowdonia, North Wales, has a fascinating history which we delve into here!

Crafnant House in Trefriw itself was built in 1870 and also has an interesting past - Jasmine has recently written a book about the story of it.

We bought the house in 2017 and have been welcoming guests to our B&B ever since, and we reflect on our fun journey at the end!


The history of Trefriw

The name Trefriw is derived from two ancient Welsh words meaning ‘healing town’. The area has been known since Roman times for its sulphur and iron-rich waters which are believed to have curative properties.

The Trefriw Wells Spa pump room and bath house was built for Victorian visitors to ‘take the waters’. Although no longer open to the public, the Spa still uses the nutrient-rich water in its Spatone products.

 
An old postcard of the village Trefriw in North Wales
 

Prior to the introduction of the railway in 1868, the village had been an important trading centre and at one time was regarded as the biggest inland port in Wales.

General merchandise was brought up river from the coast and the boats returned full of slate, ore and timber from the surrounding hills.

Trefriw was also an important centre for the wool industry and the current Trefriw Woollen Mill is now one of the main visitor attractions in the area.

It is one of the few surviving mills in Wales and it still produces beautiful traditional Welsh fabrics and blankets.

 
An old postcard showing the centre of the village of Trefriw in North Wales
 

At the turn of the century Trefriw was a popular Victorian spa resort with attractions, shops, and hotel accommodations.

Rowing boats and pleasure steamers sailed down the River Conwy, with daily trips from the nearby holiday destinations of Llandudno, Deganwy and Conwy.

Up to 1000 people a day landed at the quayside in Trefriw and were transported onwards by horse and carriage to enjoy the spa waters, fishing, climbing, painting and golf, and see the waterfalls and lakes.

 
An old postcard showing the centre of the village of Trefriw in North Wales
 

Many shops lined the high street to cater for the promenading visitors, of which only a few remain.

The steamer service was abandoned during the second world war due to heavy silting of the river, and at this time there was a general decline in the attraction of Trefriw as a spa resort.

Remnants of the quayside are still visible though, not far from us at Crafnant House.

 
An old postcard of the River Conwy with paddleboat in Trefriw, North Wales
 
 

The history of Crafnant House

Our home was built in 1870 by the Gwydir Castle Estate - who owned many of the buildings in Trefriw at that time - and leased by Mr Hugh McDonald.

It was described as:

“the most splendid in Trefriw, and its owner is one of the most reformist that our area possesses, and he leads the singing with the Independents, and he is zealous and patriotic”!

 
An old sepia postcard showing Crafnant House in Trefriw, North Wales
 

In 1897 the house was purchased by Hugh McDonald during a big sale of assets owned by the Gywdir Estate.

Crafnant House was advertised in the sales brochure as follows:

“situate in the best position in the village, and containing 4 sitting-rooms, 10 bedrooms, kitchens, wash-houses, cellars etc etc, large garden at the back well-stocked with fruit trees, also an extensive hot house, well stocked with fruitful vine trees”

 
An old postcard of the village of Trefriw in North Wales

Crafnant House can be seen on the left, opposite the general store which sold gunpowder!

 

Mr McDonald died in 1898 and by 1901 Crafnant House had new inhabitants.

The owner, Robert Evans, advertised Crafnant House as holiday apartments in 1907. He was also a garage proprietor who:

“made arrangements to meet the steamers at the… landing stage with a Charabanc, also Waggonettes, Landaus etc, to convey passengers to Betws-y-Coed, Swallow Falls, Crafnant Lake, or any other places”…..!

 
A vintage poster advertising accommodation at Crafnant House in Trefriw
 

In November 1933 Crafnant House was purchased by William Williams who ran it as a farm, including adjacent land on what is now the cob / flood plain behind the house.

The original dairy now forms part of our cellar. The Williams family lived in the house until the 1980s.

In 1934 Mr Williams divided the property to create Crafnant Villa as a separate dwelling from the main house - we are lucky enough to have obtained a copy of his plans from the Conwy County Archives.

 
building plans drawn on paper
 

The original internal doorways from the hall into the front parlour (now our snug) and kitchen were sealed, as were those off the landing into what are now guest rooms 1 and 2.

A staircase was put in from the kitchen up to a new passageway leading to the two bedrooms. The front door of Crafnant Villa was off the side driveway.

If you look closely when you stay you will see the door frames for the snug and guest rooms 1 and 2 are slightly smaller and in a different style to those in the rest of the house!

Crafnant Villa was re-incorporated into Crafnant House during the 1980s, and the internal doors reopened. The house then settled on its current role as a bed and breakfast.



 
the front cover of a book showing a large white and green bed and breakfast surrounded by countryside and the text "The Story Of A House" in green writing

Buy the book!

You can read “The Story of a House” written by Jasmine.

It is the fascinating history of Crafnant House and it’s occupants since 1870.

We have copies available when you stay with us or you can order it here!

 
 

 
the exterior of Crafnant house bed and breakfast in snowdonia, north Wales
 

The B&B and our story

The previous owners, Jan and Mike, ran a successful guest house here for 18 years before moving to the North Wales coast to enjoy their well earned retirement.

We bought ‘her’ in 2017 after first seeing the details online. We then instantly fell in love with both the house and the village during a visit to Eryri | Snowdonia to see it on a cold wet day in February!

After 20 years of working in and around London it was time for a change of direction and we had always had a vague plan to do something completely different like run a bed and breakfast at some distant point in the future - this snowballed quite quickly!

 
 

Before we knew it we had sold our (small) home, resigned from our jobs and within days of moving in were welcoming our first guests - no prior experience, a broken oven and a house full of boxes did not deter us!

It was like one of those TV programmes where people supposedly ‘escape to the country’ and start a new life, and you think “people don’t really do that sort of thing do they?!” - we did!

 
The owners of a bed and breakfast smiling at the front door of a white and green house

Trying to not look too tired on the day we moved in 2017!

 

Over seven years later we’ve never looked back. We love what we do and it is wonderful sharing Crafnant House, the village and region with the guests we get from all over the world.

We are constantly updating and improving the house and garden whilst restoring or recreating the original period features wherever possible.

And we are of course just the latest in a long line of custodians welcoming people to the house to enjoy their holidays in beautiful Trefriw, Eryri | Snowdonia and North Wales!

Stuart & Jasmine x

September 2024


Crafnant House is beautiful and the pleasure that Stuart and Jasmine take in running it is unmistakable.
— Joe, USA