![[Header#^header-embed]]
> [!SUMMARY]
> [[Hester Thrale née Salusbury]] inherited the Welsh **Bach y graig** estate of the Salusbury family after the death of her [[Hester Maria Salusbury nee Cotton|mother]] in 1773. It comprised a wood, a farm or two, a dilapidated Church and a few cottages.
>
> <iframe width="100%" height="350" src="https://www.openstreetmap.org/export/embed.html?bbox=-3.3898776769638066%2C53.228421036779054%2C-3.3836871385574345%2C53.233099618843106&layer=mapnik&marker=53.230760391717574%2C-3.38678240776062" style="border: 1px solid black"></iframe><br/><small><a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=53.23076&mlon=-3.38678#map=18/53.23076/-3.38678">View Larger Map</a></small>
## 1567 construction
Bach y graig House was the earliest brick house in Wales, built in 1567 by Sir Richard Clough.
> [!INFO] Sir Richard Clough & Katherine Tudor of Berain
> [Sir Richard Clough died 1570](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Clough) second husband of [Katherine Tudor of Berain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katheryn_of_Berain). Richard made a pilgrimage to the Jerusalem, became a [Knight of the Holy Sepulchre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre) and returned to Great Britain where he accumulated a considerable fortune and was knighted, becoming Sir Richard Clough.
Bach y graig House was a pyramidal building six stories high, eccentric, ugly and inconvenient. Above a large hall a number of little rooms clustered under the turret or cupola which topped the lot.
The painted glass windows included the arms of the knights of the Holy Sepulchre, with a heart, including …
<div style="width: 100px; border: 2px solid darkgray; margin: 0 auto;">
<div align="center">
1567<br>
R. C.<br>
C
</div>
</div>
… his own and his wife's initials; and beneath, '**Cor unum, via una;**' the arms of Elystan Glodrudd; and those of [Sir Thomas Gresham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Gresham), and of several kingdoms with which these munificent merchants traded. There are, besides, some broken wheels, with a sword, the usual emblems of St. Catherine.
## 1774 visit
When [[Hester Thrale née Salusbury|Hester]] and [[Henry Thrale]] visited in July 1774 accompanied by [[Dr. Samuel Johnson|Samuel Johnson]], it had been dilapidated and unoccupied. The floorboards were stolen, the windows broken and boarded up. The picture of _The children of Israel bitten by serpents_ still present.
Later Hester's second husband [[Gabriel Piozzi]] - was seen as a quiet, civil and amiable man and landlord - repaired Bach y graig House…
> at a monstrous expense because his little wife was vain of it.
![[bachygraig_house_1776_by_s_hooper.png]]
<div class="caption">Bach y graig House in 1776 by S. Hooper.</div>
## 1778 verses about Bach y Graig Wood
> [!QUOTE] [[Thraliana]] entry dated 7 March 1778 by [[Hester Thrale née Salusbury]] …
> It is having a good Assurance to write Verses of my own out just by Mr Johnson’s; but they are only an [Epigram](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigram) translated from one of [Salmasius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmasius) and called de luco amœno.—I was thinking they would do well to write on a Pillar in my own Wood at Bachygraig.
>
> > So thick the Shade, so cool the Stream’
> > Here safe might [Mars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_%28mythology%29) & [Venus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_%28mythology%29) play;
> > For neither tell-Tale [Titan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios)’s beam
> > Nor [Vulcan’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_%28mythology%29) Fire could find their way.
## 1817 partial demolition
The main house was demolished in 1817 but its other buildings still stand as a farm and guest house[^1].
## See also
![[hester-lynch-thrale-1741-1821🔎#^hester-lynch-thrale-infoblock]]
#history/person/SALUSBURY/hester-lynch-born-1741
#history/person/MOSTYN/john-salusbury-born-1797
#history/place/wales/bach-y-graig
![[Footer#^footer-embed]]
[^1]: Bach y graig Guest House.