Wild Wales: the Bulkeley family and Baron Hill

Driving north from Beaumaris on the Isle of Anglesey, one can’t help noticing an obelisk on a prominent hill. We stopped briefly to photograph it and continued on our journey to Bodorgan. Upon returning home to Canada, some days later I began to search for information about the obelisk. I found out that the 90 foot tall Bulkeley Monument on Cremlyn Hill was unveiled on 1st June 1882. It is described in the Cadw (Historic Environment Service of the Welsh Assembly) report as: 'Hard ashlar, probably Penmon stone, on panelled plinth with a moulded base and cornice, standing on a square stone platform.' 1   It was built to commemorate Sir Richard Bulkeley Williams Bulkeley, 10th Bart who was born in 1801 and died 28 August 1875, after having “dominated local government and politics in Anglesey for half a century.” 2

Photo by Annette Lloyd Thomas 2013

Upon further investigation I found that the nearby Bulkeley estate, Baron Hill , has been derelict since the 1940s. We had noticed one of the gates and stopped to take photos but did not realize the connection to the obelisk and how close we were to exploring the large estate left untouched for over 60 years and now overgrown by woods.

Photo by Annette Lloyd Thomas 2013

Baron Hill was built in 1618 and underwent a massive rebuild in the Neo-Palladian style in 1776 by  architect Samuel Wyatt. Death duties during the First World War eroded the Bulkeley fortune to the extent that they could no longer maintain the estate. During the Second World War the house was occupied by the Royal Engineers. Legend has it that Polish prisoners set fire to the place in the hopes of being moved to better accommodation. Much to their chagrin, they were subsequently housed in tents on the grounds of the ruined mansion.

In recent years, the construction firm Watkin Jones has employed architects Willacyhorsewood to design the multi-million pound transformation of the Baron Hill Estate into 43 luxury apartments.3 An application for planning permission was reviewed by the Isle of Angelesey County Council on
1 December 2010 (12.3 – 12C368A – Baron Hill, Beaumaris). I am presently unable to discern the status of the application.

These amazing photos of the Baron Hill Estate, below, are reproduced here with the kind permission of North Wales photographer David Roberts.

Rear Facade and Portico 

Photo by David Roberts

Front Facade

Photo by David Roberts

The Temple

Photo by David Roberts

To see more, go to David Roberts Flickr set here

The Bodorgan Connection 4

This large cross in the churchyard of St Cadwaladr's Church, Langadwaladr, Wales bear the following inscription: 

This cross erected by Sir George [Augustus Elliot Tapps-Gervis-] Meyrick Bart 

in loving memory of his uncle

Owen John Augustus Fuller Meyrick Esq

of Bodorgan

Died Feb 12 1876 aged 72

The memory of the just is blessed

The Bodorgan Connection 3

Of Augustus Elliot Fuller's ten children, only one, Clara Meyrick Fuller, had children. She married Sir George William Gervis-Tapps 2nd Bart on the 26th of  September 1826 in St James's, Piccadilly. Sadly, two weeks after the birth of their fourth child Clara died on the 27th of December 1832, aged 29. Their oldest son George Augustus Eliott Tapps-Gervis-Meyrick became the 3rd Baronet Meyrick and inherited John "Mad Jack" Fuller's country estate Rose Hill, Brightling Sussex. In 1879 he sold Rose Hill to Percy Tew who renamed it Brightling Park.

Memorial in St Cadwaladr church, Llangadwaladr, Anglesey, Wales:

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF 

RICHARD GARTH FULLER 

WHO DIED SEPTEMBER 16TH 1812 

AGED 16 DAYS 

JOHN FRANCIS FULLER

 DIED APRIL THE 12TH 1822 

AGED 16 YEARS 

WILLIAM LOWNDES FULLER 

DIED FEBRUARY THE 10TH 1825 

AGED 13 YEARS 

MARY FULLER 

DIED NOVEMBER THE 27TH 1831 

AGED 14 YEARS 

CLARA TAPPS 

WIFE OF GEORGE WILLIAM TAPPS ESQR 

DIED DECEMBER THE 27TH 1831 

AGED 29 YEARS 

THEY WERE THE CHILDREN OF 

AUGUSTUS ELIOTT FULLER ESQR AND CLARA HIS WIFE 

AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF 

OWEN J. A. FULLER MEYRICK ESQR

 OF BODORGAN, ANGLESEY

The Bodorgan Connection 2

Catherine Sarah Fuller was born in St James, Westminster and died unmarried in Clifford Street, London. She was the third of five daughters of Augustus Elliot Fuller, one of John Fuller's heirs. She was buried in the churchyard of St Cadwaladr church in Llangadwaladr, Anglesey, Wales on the 12th of June 1858. A memorial in the church reads:

In Memory of 

Catherine Sarah 

daughter of 

Augustus Elliot Fuller 

of Rose Hill and Ashdown House Sussex 

and Clara his wife 

born 

the ninth of November mdcccxiv [1814] 

and died 

the sixth of June  mdccclviii [1858]

The Bodorgan Connection 1

We are now on holiday in Wales and have visited St. Cadwaladr Church in Llangwaladr, which is on the Bodorgan Estate. Jack Fuller's will provided for two main beneficiaries: his nephew (by his sister Elizabeth) Peregrine Palmer Fuller Palmer Acland and Augustus Elliot Fuller, the son of his first cousin John Trayton Fuller of Forest Row, Sussex. Augustus Elliot Fuller married Clara Meyrick of Bodorgan, Anglesey, Wales. This memorial, in the church, is to Clara Meyrick's father Owen Putland Meyrick:

IN MEMORY OF 

OWEN PUTLAND, THE SON OF OWEN MEYRICK, ESQR 

OF BODORGAN; 

WHO DIED MARCH 24TH 1825, AGED 72 YEARS, 

A TRULY HONEST MAN: 

WHOSE DELIGHT WAS TO DO GOOD, 

AND

 "TO DWELL AMONG HIS OWN PEOPLE." 

HIS DISCONSOLATE WIDOW 

HERE RECORDS HIS WORTH AND HER OWN AFFLICTION: 

He married Clara, daughter of Richard Garth, 

Esqr of Morden, Surry (sic), with whom he lived in happy 

union 50 years, and by her has left two only 

surviving children, CLARA, the Wife of 

AUGUSTUS ELLIOT FULLER, and LUCY ELIZABETH 

now the widow of ISAAC HARTMAN, Esqr. His only 

son, OWEN GARTH, was born August the 16th 1776

 and died September 1783, aged 7 Years.