The original house
Designed by Thomas Webb, the original house was finished in 1687, having been built for Joshua Edisbury, High Sheriff of Denbighshire. The building was then sold to John Mellor (1665-1733), Master of the Chancery, in 1718.
John Mellor enlarged and furnished Erddig House, and on his death, the estate passed to his nephew, Simon Yorke, before the house descended through the Yorke family until it was given to the National Trust in 1973. John Mellor's purchases adorn the house to this day; the best can be seen in the Saloon, Tapestry Room and State Bedroom.
The original house, which forms the central nine bays of Erddig, was square and quite austere. Wings were added in 1720s, and to protect it from weathering, stone facing was added to the West front in the 1770s. Considered to be somewhat plain, architecturally speaking, the furnishings inside the house are outstanding, dating from 1720-26, and were made by London cabinetmakers and craftsmen.
The Yorke family
The first Phillip Yorke (1743-1804) refashioned and remodelled the house, preserving and adapting its 17th Century fittings. Author of 'The Royal Tribes of Wales' (published in 1799), he fitted up an emblematic Tribes Room in the basement, and initiated an Erddig tradition of assembling portraits of household servants, annotated with descriptive verses.
The Yorkes were, on the surface, a typical comfortably off family, but underneath they were rather unconventional. Many were vegetarians, a tradition started by Philip Yorke (I), who, in 1749, at five years old, 'chused chiefly to dine on vegetables'. A few of the family were teetotallers, and the last two Squires, Simon (IV) and Philip (III), both led reclusive and rather eccentric lives.
All members of the family shared an interest in antiquity and were archivists, hoarding everything - no matter how trivial. The family preserved the feel of the 18th Century house, choosing not to install electricity, gas or mains water until well into the 20th Century.
The staff
Visitors are introduced to the history of the servants and their workshops before they encounter the large, square, main house building, with its lavish interiors. This manner of introduction sets the scene for the unusual story behind Erddig.
There are a large number of out-buildings and yards dedicated to the upkeep of the estate. Repairs to the farmhouses, cottages, roads and bridges were undertaken by the estate foreman and his staff of up to 30 workmen. The Laundry Yard was the preserve of the female staff and contained a bakehouse, scullery, and wet and dry laundries. Outside the estate yard there is a dovecote dating from the 18th Century, which would have supplied a valuable source of food.
The New Kitchen has a large Venetian window and three great arches -'one of the grandest rooms at Erddig', perhaps reflecting on Philip I's regard for his staff. Originally the kitchen was detached from the main house in an effort to reduce the risk of fire, which had destroyed many contemporary buildings; it is now joined to the main house by a linking block, erected in the 19th Century.
The unusually close relationship between family and servants is illustrated by a series of portraits of the staff, begun in the late 18th Century, and continued into the 20th.
Photographs of the staff line the basement passage - the earliest of which is a daguerreotype (an early type of photograph) of 1852. Other group photographs were taken in 1887 and 1912 and all have accompanying verse by Philip Yorke II (1849 - 1922).
In the Servants Hall, hang several portraits of the staff from the 18th Century. There are staff portraits at other houses of the same era, but these are of 'picturesque individuals' rather than a record of the household, as at Erddig. The series begins with the 'Negro Coachboy', who served John Meller in the early 18th Century - verses were added to the picture by Philip Yorke I, 50 years later.
There were more portraits of the servants produced than of the Yorkes themselves. Between 1791 and 1796, six of Philip Yorke I's staff were painted by John Walters of Denbigh, featuring amongst others the gamekeeper, the housemaid, and the blacksmith. Three portraits were painted in 1830 with verses added by Simon Yorke II featuring the gardener, the carpenter and the woodman.
Two unusual hatchment memorials, commemorating long serving butlers from the 19th Century are also displayed in the Servants' Hall; hatchments normally being reserved for the gentry and their coats of arms.
The employer/servant relationship lasted up until the First World War, and although not unique, was nevertheless unusual in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. At some country houses the domestic staff were treated quite badly. At many others, the servants were simply taken for granted.
The Gardens
The park was landscaped by William Eames (1729-1803) between 1768 - 1789. Erddig's walled garden is one of the most important surviving 18th Century gardens in Britain and was planned around a canal, and features a Victorian parterre and yew walk, as well as the National Collection of Ivy. The walled garden has many rare historical varieties of apples, pears, plums and apricots training along its walls, carefully labelled with names like Bon Chrétien d'Hiver (a pear of the late 15th Century) and Edelsborsdorfer (a 16th Century apple). Eames designed the unusual 'Cup and Saucer Waterfall' (1774), which can be found in the grounds. The 'cup' being a hole in the middle of a large disc - the 'saucer' - into which a flowing stream disappears creating an internal cylindrical waterfall. The stream emerges a few yards away under a bridge-like arch.
