Mike Ward, head of history at the school, told us about the building's colourful past.

Gloddaeth Hall, as it was known, is a Tudor building built in the early 16th century, but it does have some Medieval influences too, unlike nearby Bodysgallen Hall which is most definitely Elizabethan.

It was built for Margaret, heiress of the Gloddaeth estate who married into the Mostyn family. Their main seat was Mostyn Hall over in Flintshire, but their estate extended the length of the north Wales coast and they would move between their houses.

We still have intact the great hall, which contains a painted coat of arms of Queen Elizabeth I, a minstrel gallery and a grand fireplace with the Mostyn motto above.

There's also a hiding place up the chimney. The Mostyns were suspected of being Catholics at a time when that was very dangerous. They were supposed to guard against the rebels printing Catholic books in a cave on the Great Orme, but the rebels somehow escaped.

We also have a secret room up above the coat of arms in the great hall, reached by a steep staircase hidden in the panels of a small room upstairs. You have to have a good head for heights to stand up there.

There's a portrait of Sir Roger Mostyn who led the royal cavalry against the parliamentarians in Chester during the Civil War. He was captured and imprisoned at Conwy Castle before being rewarded at the return of King Charles I.

An extension was built in the 17th century which includes the library, now our music room. There's also a mid-17th century cannon in front of the hall, said to have been found near the old Weekly News depot in Llandudno Junction.

In the 1880s the house was extended again by Lady Augusta Mostyn. They added 40 extra rooms and invited the well-known designer Nessfield in to build an Elizabethan staircase, which is now only used by prefects and staff.

We also have plans of a great maze on the hill behind the school, larger than the one in Hampton Court. This must have been to attract tourists.

There was a sale of goods in the 1930s and the house has been rented out ever since. It used to be the Gloddaeth School for Girls before becoming St David's College in 1965.

It's a fantastic resource for teaching history. I show the boys the great hall for examples of Tudor or Medieval life, or go out into the grounds to see the many canons we've got if we're studying something like the gunnery of the Spanish Armada. Anything to make history more fun! Mike Ward

Trivia: St David's College was the location for the 1971 film Unman, Wittering and Zigo, starring David Hemmings and Michael Kitchen.