:Aberconwy House

{{Infobox historic site

| name = Aberconwy House

| image = Aberconwy House, High St - geograph.org.uk - 1477020.jpg

| caption = The house at the corner of Castle Street and High Street

| type = House

| locmapin = Wales Conwy

| map_relief = yes

| coordinates = {{coord|53.2816|-3.8285 |display=inline,title}}

| location = Conwy, Conwy County Borough, Wales

| area =

| built = C.1420

| restored= 1976

| architect =

| architecture = Vernacular

| governing_body = National Trust

| designation1 = Grade I listed building

| designation1_offname = Aberconwy House

| designation1_date = 23 September 1950

| designation1_number = 3262

| designation2 =

| designation2_offname =

| designation2_date =

| designation2_number =

}}

Aberconwy House, 2 Castle Street, Conwy, Wales is a medieval merchant's house and one of the oldest dateable houses in Wales. Constructed in the 15th century it is, along with Plas Mawr, one of the two surviving merchant's houses within the town. Its historical and architectural importance is reflected in its status as a Grade I listed building. The house is administered by the National Trust.

History

Following the Conquest of Wales by Edward I in the late 13th century, Conwy, with its castle and walls, became an important strategic and commercial centre.{{sfn|Ashbee|2007|p=8}} The town was granted a Royal charter in 1284{{sfn|Haslam|Orbach|Voelcker|2009|p=317}} and English settlers, particularly from the counties of Cheshire and Lancashire, were encouraged to populate the new borough.{{cite web |url=http://cadw.gov.wales/docs/cadw/publications/WHS_part_1_EN.pdf |title=Part 1: Description of the Site |date=2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810090432/http://cadw.gov.wales/docs/cadw/publications/WHS_part_1_EN.pdf |archive-date=10 August 2017}}{{failed verification|date=November 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://cadw.gov.wales/docs/cadw/publications/historicenvironment/20180118Castles%20and%20Town%20Walls%20of%20King%20Edward%20-%20MP%20-%20ENG.pdf |title=World Heritage Site Management Plan 2018–28|publisher=Welsh Government |date=2018 |accessdate=2 November 2018 |page=65 |quote=As at Caernarfon, King Edward I also established a walled town for incoming settlers.}} Aberconwy House is a rare survivor of a number of such houses-cum-warehouses built by English merchants trading on the Welsh Marches in the medieval period.{{sfn|Haslam|Orbach|Voelcker|2009|p=342}} The town planner and architect, John B. Hilling, in his 2018 study, The Architecture of Wales: from the first to the twenty-first century, describes it as the "sole survivor of [such] houses built in Edward I's Welsh 'new-towns'".{{sfn|Hilling|2018|p=86}} Tree-ring analysis of the roof timbers shows that the trees were felled {{circa|1417–1420}}.{{cite web|url=http://cadwpublic-api.azurewebsites.net/reports/listedbuilding/FullReport?lang=en&id=3262|title=Listed Buildings – Full Report – HeritageBill Cadw Assets – Reports|website=cadwpublic-api.azurewebsites.net}} This dating makes it one of the oldest dateable houses in Wales and its importance was recognised in 1950 when it was designated a Grade I listed building. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the house served as a temperance hotel and, following closure and other subsequent uses, it was left to the National Trust in 1934.{{sfn|Haslam|Orbach|Voelcker|2009|p=342}} The Trust undertook an extensive restoration in 1976 and the house is now run as a museum.{{cite web|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/aberconwy-house|title=Aberconwy House|website=National Trust}}

Architecture and description

The house is of two upper storeys, over a cellar. The top floor is jettied, with the overhanging structure supported on corbel stones, "a mark of prosperity".{{sfn|Haslam|Orbach|Voelcker|2009|p=342}} The building is constructed around a timber frame which shows a Kentish or Wealden influence.