History Of Bodidris Hall
Early History of Bodidris Hall
There has been a Hall at Bodidris since the Dark Ages, 450 onwards. The area was the scene of violent warfare between the Welsh Princes of Powys and Gwynedd as well as the continual struggles with the Kings of England.
Below is a more detailed history of the past owners of Bodidris. This is by no means complete and there are some significant gaps which will be filled in as research continues.
Needless to say the Hall and its many owners over the centuries have had a major influence on the history of both Wales and England, especially in times of war.
450 - 1165
Bodidris was held by the Princes of Powys throughout this period and was the scene of many a bloody battle with their great rivals for power in the region at the time, the Princes of Gwynedd.
The Hall was destroyed and rebuilt on numerous occasions, paying testament to its strategic importance and value as a Welsh palace (Plas).
The last Prince of Powys to hold Bodidris was Owain Cyfeiliog (c. 1130 - 1197). Also a poet of some repute, he became Lord of Cyfeiliog, a large area that had Bodidris as its seat, on the death of his brother Madog in 1160.
In 1165 he joined his fellow Princes of Powys under the command of Owain Gwynedd to face Henry IIs army attacking North Wales over the Berwyn Mountains. Henry fell foul to both these defenders and the Welsh weather and was successfully driven back to his base in Oswestry, an event that would have a significant effect on the history of Bodidris.
Despite this, two years later Owain reverted to a policy of friendship with the English Crown and remained fairly constant to it for the remainder of his life.
In 1170 he established the now disappeared Cistercian monastery of Strata Marcella near Welshpool , Valle Crucis Abbey in Llangollen was a daughter of this once magnificent building.
He was the only Welsh prince who refused to support the efforts of archbishop Baldwin and Giraldus Cambrensis in 1188 to preach the Crusade, for which he was excommunicated.
It would appear that he handed over the reins of government to his son, Gwenwynwyn (q.v.), in 1195, and retired to the monastery of Strata Marcella, where he died in 1197 and lies buried.
In the early years of his reign, Owain excelled as a warrior. Gerald Cambrensis later speaks of him as one of the three princes in Wales who were conspicuous for the justice, wisdom, and moderation of their rule. He also mentions his eloquent tongue and his sagacity.
Yet his fame as a fighter remained, even among the Normans, as can be seen from the Legende de Fulk Fitz Warin, a Norman Lord based at Whittington Castle near Oswestry, who many believe is the true Robin Hood.
Indeed, Owain\'s own poem, Drinking-horn of Owain, in which a number of fellow-soldiers are each addressed in turn as the horn goes round, is the best portrayal which we have of the campaigning life of a Welsh prince, with the close comradeship existing between him and his chosen war-band and the thrill of their life of high adventure.
1165 - 1700
The next phase of ownership has been the longest by one single family so far.
Following the successful defense of North Wales against Henry IIs invading army in 1165, Owain Cyfeiliog gave Bodidris and its surrounding lands to Llewelyn ap Ynyr as payment for his actions during the war against England.
This began almost 550 years of continual residence by the family, who later rose to prominence during the Tudor period under the name of Lloyd. Indeed, the family became heirs to the lands of Owain GlyndÅ´r, the last true Welsh Prince of Wales who battled for independence for his country in the early 15th century, at Glyndyrdwy through marriage.
JOHN LLOYD became sheriff of Denbighshire in 1551; his son, Sir EVAN LLOYD (d. 1586), succeeded him in the office in 1583, and was elected M.P. for the county in 1585. He was claimed as a papist in 1574, but strenuous efforts by Richard Gwyn (q.v) failed to reconcile him openly to Rome, and in 1578 he was included with bishops and judges in a special commission to root out recuscany in north-eastern Wales. He fought in the Low Countries under Leicester, was knighted by him in 1586, and d. in London (11 March 1586) soon after landing in Kent on his return, his body being conveyed (at his request) to Llanarmon for burial next day.
Sir JOHN LLOYD (d. 1606), son of Sir Evan, appears to have accompanied him to Flanders in 1586. He was one of a group of east Denbighshire squires (many of them recusant in sympathy) who favoured the cause of Queen Elizabeth Is favourite Robert Devereux, 2nd earl of Essex.
His partisanship had landed him in riots and Star Chamber suits by 1591, but his association with Essex began in 1596, when he helped his brother-in-law, captain John Salusbury of Rug (q.v.), to recruit forces in Denbighshire for the earl\'s famous Cadiz expedition, probably sailing with it himself, and later (1601) facing in Star Chamber charges of corrupt management of the musters.
In 1599 he went to Ireland with Essex\'s ultimatley disasterous expedition, which was the beginning of the end for Essex and was knighted in the field.
Returning to Denbighshire in 1600 to raise fresh forces, he and Sir Richard Trevor became involved in further broils with the local Llewenni faction, which were investigated in Star Chamber in 1602.
Meanwhile, in Dec. 1600, a meeting of local supporters of Essex was held at Lloyd\'s Wrexham house, and it was with funds supplied by him that captain John Salusbury left for London on the Earl\'s summons to participate in the fatal conspiracy of Feb. 1601. Lloyd was denounced to the government but escaped punishment, and in the county election of the following Sept. he was among the old adherents of Essex who backed with force the candidature of Sir Richard Trevor against that of Sir John Salusbury of Llewenni, himself bringing (according to later allegations in Star Chamber) a hundred armed men to the polls, and thereby contributing to the tension which caused the sheriff to stop the poll.
Lloyd returned to Ireland in James I\'s reign, and died at Newry in 1606.
Sir John\'s grandson, EVAN LLOYD (d. 1637), was a captain in Ireland, with lands in Newry..
Sir Evan Lloyd, son of Evan, is best remembered for his exploits in defence of King Charles I during the English Civil Wars.
He served Charles as Sheriff of Denbighshire from 1644-6, for which he was fined £1,000 by parliament in June 1646. He refused to pay the fine and went into hiding and is reputedly stated as having to pay out over £1,000 to his protectors! He was eventually rewarded for his loyalty with a Baronetcy by the King in 1647.
Unfortunatley, trouble was never very far away from Sir Evan and both he and his cousin, Captain John Lloyd, were killed in one of the final skirmishes of the Civil War in 1648.
All titles lapsed on the death without heirs (6 April 1700) of Sir Evans son, another Sir Evan Lloyd, who upheld the family\'s military tradition by fighting in Holland at the head of a Welsh company in 1673.
Bodidris then moved into the ownership of the Mostyn family through marriage.