A Plas Newydd Timeline

Plas Newydd, home of the “Ladies of Llangollen” – Sarah Ponsonby and Eleanor Butler – proved a stopping point for many visitors. Some were allowed to stroll the grounds; others were admitted to the ground floor of the house – sans the Ladies; and those lucky enough to gain the acquaintance of Sarah and Eleanor also got the Ladies to show the house, personally!

Michael in Aberystwyth has been researching 18th- and 19th-century travel in Wales, and has found some stunning comments, particularly in women‘s diaries.

Culled from over a thousand accounts of tours of Wales, this list of visitors – a small proportion of travelers to North Wales who visited Plas Newydd and made a point of recording their impressions – is presented chronologically to give an indication of the frequency of visitors.

Special “THANKS” to Liz Pitman, for permission to share her transcriptions (see Liz’s book Pigsties and Paradise: Lady Diarists and the Tour of Wales, 1795-1860 for more women’s travels in Wales)

**If you know of other visitors, or comments, about the Ladies of Llangollen, make contact!**