Craig y Mor explained

Craig y Mor
Type:House
Map Relief:yes
Coordinates:53.2806°N -4.6301°W
Location:Trearddur, Anglesey, Wales
Built:1911-1922
Architect:F. G. Hicks
Architecture:Neo-Georgian
Governing Body:Privately owned
Designation1:Grade II listed building
Designation1 Offname:Craig y Mor
Designation1 Date:19 January 1998
Designation1 Number:20078

Craig y Mor is a house overlooking Treaddur Bay on Anglesey, Wales. The house dates from the early 20th century and has always been privately owned. It is a Grade II listed building.

History

Treaddur Bay developed as a seaside resort in the 19th century. By the 20th century, it had become popular with the wealthy middle-classes from Liverpool. William Smellie, the builder of Craig y Mor, was born in Glasgow in the 1870s, and rose to become chairman and managing director of Meade-King, Robinson, a manufacturing company based in Liverpool which developed a highly-profitable relationship with Lever Brothers, principally in the production of soap.[1] In 1911, Smellie determined to build a holiday home on Anglesey and engaged the architect Frederick George Hicks. Hicks, born in England, had moved to Dublin in the late 19th century, and developed a successful career becoming president both of the Architectural Association of Ireland and of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland.[2] Construction on Craig y Mor was interrupted by the First World War and the house was not completed until 1922.

William Smellie died in 1955 and his widow six years later.[3] The house remains a private home in the possession of the family and is not open to the public. It is rented for film and photographic shoots.[4] [5]

Architecture and description

Craig y Mor was designed by Hicks in a Neo-Georgian style.[6] It is "large", and constructed of snecked rubble with a tiled roof. Richard Haslam, Julian Orbach and Adam Voelcker, in their 2009 edition, Gwynedd, of the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series, consider the double-height bay window "overlooking the sea, its boldest feature".

The house is a Grade II listed building, the Cadw listing record describing it as "ambitious in scale, dramatic in massing, and refined in detail."

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About Craig-y-Mor. Craig-y-Mor. 17 November 2022.
  2. Web site: Frederick George Hicks. Patrick. Long. Dictionary of Irish Biography. 17 November 2022.
  3. Web site: Mysterious 'spooky' house compared to Norman Bates' home in Psycho. Joanne. Ridout. 15 November 2022. WalesOnline. 17 November 2022.
  4. Web site: The creepy 'spooky house' that casts an eerie spectre on the Anglesey coast. Harri. Evans. 13 November 2022. North Wales Live. 17 November 2022.
  5. Web site: Craig-y-Mor. Craig-y-Mor. 17 November 2022.
  6. Web site: WALES, HOLYHEAD, TREARDDUR BAY, CRAIG-Y-MOR Dictionary of Irish Architects - . www.dia.ie . 1 January 2024.