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Sir Richard Clough – ‘The Most Complete Man’ |
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Bach-y-graig and Plas Clough
© National Library of Wales |
Richard returned to Wales in April 1567, both to marry, and to build two houses in his native Denbighshire. Each of these events are noteworthy, the former for his new wife - Katheryn of Berain, and the latter, because the houses were built-in Antwerp style by Flemish craftsmen, and were the first brick houses in Wales.
Both houses were grand in scale, introducing symmetrical forms, and stepped gables, which became popular in Northern Europe, and were possibly by the same architect who designed the Royal Exchange. Bach-y-graig was ‘so alien to Welsh tradition and English Renaissance development, as to be unique in English domestic architecture.’ The house was on the itinerary of all fashionable visitors to North Wales, and in 1774, Dr Johnson characteristically described it as "less than I expect".
The erection of such new and unusual buildings aroused much local attention and suspicion. Many tales have now passed into folklore, one saying that Bach-y-graig was constructed at such speed that locals believed it to be the work of the devil. Another tale claims that when builders ran out of bricks, a fresh supply would appear as if by magic the following morning on the bank of the brook which is still known as Nant-y-Cythrall – the devil’s brook. In reality, materials for the brick may have been excavated and burnt on site, or else imported from the Low Countries, as was the brick for the Royal Exchange.
A windowless room at the top of the house inspired further myths – popular tradition insists that it was built purely for Clough to communicate with Satan in, unseen by human eye. Their discussions, (always at midnight), were in regards to the construction of the property, for which Satan was the contractor, and to whom Clough had sold his soul.
In reality, Clough was a committed astronomer, and it is thought that he used this room for making observations, his findings contributing to the work of his friend, Ortelius, the Hamburg Cartographer, who designed maps for the navigators of the 16th Century. Clough was a valuable mediator between Ortelius, and the Denbigh geographer, historian and antiquary Humphrey Llwyd, who called him 'the most complete man'.
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