There is nothing better than a spring visit to Llanerchaeron, located just outside of Aberaeron. The 500-acre estate was bought in 1634 by Llewelyn Parry for seven score pounds, the princely sum of £140! The house remained in the family for ten generations over the next three and a half centuries and was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1989.
In 1783 William Lewis commissioned an unknown architect from London called John Nash to design a new house. He later became a great Regency architect, designing the Brighton Pavilion and Buckingham Palace. The house is now a combination of pre and post Nash parts. Nash believed the house should be symmetrical and throughout the house, you can find false doors, windows that have been halved and fake windows put onto the exterior.
The house is beautifully furnished and the kitchen and larders are full of interesting items. Around the rear courtyard are the laundry rooms, the dairy, the brewery and other rooms, which were important for the day-to-day running of a large estate.
After leaving the house explore the walled gardens, and the greenhouses which are full of seedlings. Next is the farmyard with cattle, hens and pigs. In the milking parlour is a full-size model of a cow, which you can have a go at milking by hand if you’re feeling adventurous!
Along the path back to the visitor centre you pass the cart house and second-hand book shop. From the car park is a footbridge leading to circular woodland walks and the old railway track which will take you back to Aberaeron.
