Wynnstay was a famous estate in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, the family seat

Family seat

A seat or family seat is the principal residence of a family. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families took their dynasty name from their family seat , or named their family seat after their own dynasty...

 of the Wynns. It is located at Ruabon

Ruabon

Ruabon is a village and community in the county borough of Wrexham in Wales.More than 80% of the population of 2,400 were born in Wales with 13.6% speaking Welsh....

, near Wrexham

Wrexham

Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...

.

During the 17th century, Sir John Wynn, 5th Baronet

Sir John Wynn, 5th Baronet

Sir John Wynn, 5th Baronet succeeded his cousin Sir Richard Wynn, 4th Baronet as a baronet in 1674 but did not inherit the lands of the Gwydyr Estate which passed to his predecessor's daughter Mary.-Inheritance:...

 inherited the Watstay Estate through his marriage to Jane Evans (daughter of Eyton Evans of Watstay), and renamed it the Wynnstay Estate. The gardens were laid out by Capability Brown

Capability Brown

Lancelot Brown , more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener". He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure...

.

Famous occupants of the house and estate included Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet

Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet

Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet was a Welsh politician and patron of the arts.Sir Watkin was the eldest son of the second marriage of his father, Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 3rd Baronet, to Frances Shackerley of Cheshire...

. During the 19th century, Princess Victoria

Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

 stayed there with her mother, the Duchess of Kent

Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was the mother of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.-Early life:...

.

After the house was vacated by the Williams-Wynn family in the mid-20th century, it was taken over by Lindisfarne College

Lindisfarne College

Lindisfarne College was a private school or independent school. It was founded in 1891 in Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex, England. In 1940 Lindisfarne College moved from Westcliff to nearby Creeksea Place, but during World War II the building was requisitioned by the military and the school transferred...

. When the school closed, it was converted to flats and several private houses. As at 2010, the gardens are in the process of refurbishment.

External links

• Transcript of information from Picturesque Views of Seats of The Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland edited by F. O. Morris (published c.1880) http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mossvalley/mv/wynnstay1.html
• Park website
• 1860 – Wynnstay Hall, Ruabon, Wales