Keeping House at Plas Mawr

We've just returned from a lovely day working at Plas Mawr in Conwy.  It's been one of our favourite places for a long time and we've visited a couple of times a year for over a decade, but in recent years been delighted to work in the house and help bring it to life.

Plas Mawr claims to be the best preserved Elizabethan town house in Britain and I'm sure they're quite right to say that.  The building sprawls out over several levels, with dozens of rooms inside, two courtyards and a grand gatehouse too but all squeezed into a plot in the centre of the medieval town.

The interior is beautifully dressed and evocative of the period, but usually without people to bring it to life, so that's the reason we were there.  Sue set up a housekeeping display in the wonderful kitchen, demonstrating everything from cooking, through cleaning and keeping away pests to household medicine.

I was lucky enough to spend the day in the parlour, playing some Tudor tunes, chatting about bagpipes and just enjoying meeting lots of visitors with fascinating stories.

Outside, the Company of Artisans were working wonders with plaster demonstrating how the wonderful plaster decorated ceilings at Plas Mawr were constructed.  They do a fantastic job engaging the public and had a wonderfully constructed wall and ceiling which they plastered in completely authentic manner during the day, as well as making miniature plaster casts for the children visiting, this was the results of my effort..!

After all the times we've been to visit this ancient house, it still holds a magic and charm.