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A historic castle in Wales will go up for auction next month for less than the price of a one-bedroom flat in central London.

Gwrych Castle has been decaying for decades - in fact, its fires were lit for the first time in a century in 2016 after a dramatic restoration of part of this historic building.

The castle was built between 1812 and 1822 by Lloyd Hesketh Bamford-Hesketh as a memorial to his mother’s ancestors, the Lloyds of Gwrych.

Winifred Bamford-Hesketh, later Countess of Dundonald, inherited it in 1894. She died in 1924 and her will declared Gwrych should be bequeathed to King George V so the Royal Family had a permanent base in Wales. This request was declined and it was given to St John of Jerusalem.

(Image: Eric Scadding/Creative Commons) (Image: Creative Commons) (Image: Daily Post Wales)

In 1925 the Earl of Dundonald (Winifred’s husband) bought back the castle for £78,000 and during World War II Gwrych housed Jewish refugees.

A gradual decline began when Gwrych Castle finally left the family’s hands in 1946. Leslie Salts bought it in 1948 and opened Gwrych to the public for 20 years. Between 1968 and 1989 it had many owners and uses, including as a medieval centre. Gwrych closed to the public in 1985.

Now, the roof structure, all intermediate floors and most of the interior finishes have been lost.

The tower at Gwrych Castle has stood for decades overlooking Abergele, Conwy, in a ruinous state, slowly succumbing to the elements and over-run by nature.

Dr Mark Baker, an expert in Welsh historic houses, and his band of 65 volunteers rode to the castle's rescue in 1997 and set up the charity, the Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust.

(Image: Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust) (Image: Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust)

After setting up the Trust, the tower was a priority restoration for those tasked with bringing the building to its former glory.

Dr Baker said: "Basically, the tower was just four crumbling walls. It had no roof, no windows and no floors. We had to clear out five foot of rubble, abandoned birds' nests and foliage and allow the building to 'dry out'. Then local builders and chimney sweeps helped us to rebuild and restore.

"The stove in the basement room is a kind donation by Ceri Leeder to the trust as the original was stolen.

"The fireplace that we will be lighting is in the room where the Countess of Dundonald, Winifred Bamford-Heskth, used to use as a writing room."

Dr Baker, who has written multiple history books, used to go there as a child. Last year, he said: “I remember being on my dad’s shoulders. It was like a fairy tale it was so big.”

(Image: Daily Post Wales)

Gwrych is a huge structure. The frontage is 1,500 ft in length and you have six miles of walls going round the estate. It was built by a Welsh gentry family that wanted to build a memorial to their ancestors so did a pick and mix of Welsh castles taking inspiration from places like Conwy.

“It was sold by the family in 1946 because of death duties,” said Dr Baker.

“It was opened to the public and became really successful. But then in 1989 it was sold to an American who had the idea of turning it into an opera centre but he went under financially. Then it was in good condition and you could move into bits of it.

“Throughout the 1990s it was asset striped. You had salvage people going in taking out fireplaces and doors, the top range stuff.

“In the mid-90s travellers moved in and took all the lead off the roof, stripped the slates off and then took all the floorboards wiring and glass out.

“What was left by the end of 90s was just a skeleton of a building. This is national heritage being destroyed.”

Edwards Property Management bought the 200-year-old castle in 2010 and sister firm Castell Developments were given the go-ahead in 2012 for a massive restoration project.

The £25m dream was to create a five-star country hotel with 75 bedrooms, spa and banqueting facilities with investors needed to turn this into a reality.

The landmark and its 160-acre grounds will go under the hammer with offers for over £600,000 at a sale at the AJ Bell Stadium, Manchester, on April 17.

In 1989 Californian Nick Tavaglione purchased Gwrych with the hope of restoring the castle into a hotel and opera house.

This never materialised.

In 2006 Gwrych Castle Trust facilitated a sale to Yorkshire-based hoteliers Clayton Hotels, , who announced a three-year £6m regeneration project to convert the ruined building.

Around £500K was spent on consolidating the site but they went into receivership.

Thirty acres of the site is subject to a 25-year lease to the Preservation Trust and Natural Resource Wales.

The agreement details that they will restore the outbuildings and visitors centre to operational use and also restore the formal gardens. Work is set to start on restoring the Melon House.

Owners Edwards Property Management said they would release a statement on Tuesday.

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