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The
Red House
When Berkowitz
Lake & Dahmer needed some artwork for the sleeve of their
second full-length album 'Contraception
of the Gods', we plundered the Fflint Central photo archive
and found an image which we felt captured the spirit of the album perfectly.
The 'Red House'
depicted on the cover can be found in North Wales, high on the
Denbigh Moors. At just under 500 metres above sea level, the ruin of
a former hunting lodge, known as Gwylfa Hiraethog looms ominously
on the skyline close to a lonely pub called The Sportsman's Arms on
the A543, between Bylchau and Pentrefoelas.
The
house was built in about 1908 by Lord Devenport (Hudson Ewbanke Kearley),
but by the 1950's had fallen into disuse and as the masonry slowly collapsed
and crumbled, so did Gwylfa Hiraethog assume a more eerie aspect. As
kids, a trip across the moor by car from Fflint, (usually on the way
to Snowdonia) always included the ritual of being the first to glimpse
the House's decaying chimney stacks. The thrill had scarcely diminished
in 1993 on returning to the moors, which is when the photograph on the
CotG sleeve was taken. Two of
the chimneys still remained, albeit in a perilous state of repair, but
much of the lodge was reduced to rubble. Sheep grazed quietly as the
wind whistled through the rotted windows. When the lodge was in a more
complete state, the words 'TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT' could be seen,
daubed on the gable end facing the road. As the pictures from 2001 show,
the decay is so advanced that the chimney-spotting game is now futile.
An excellent picture by Matt
Wood taken in April 2004 shows the continued, inexorable process
of entropy and Tim's pictures from 2005 sadly see the old, dead tree
uprooted and lying on the ground.
It's not difficult
to understand why many locals referred to the place as The Haunted
House. According to Simon Marsden, in his book 'The Haunted Realm',
two young lovers are said to have seen something 'unearthly' among the
ruins in the dead of night, described as a tall luminous skeleton, glowing
in the dark.
After
exploring the house in 1993, we called into The Sportsman's Arms for
a pint. Just inside the door, in a glass case, was a bright red bust
of Satan, complete with devilish grin, horns and pointed goatee. We
never had the courage to ask the landlord it's significance.............
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Andy
Sharp
I
was interested to read the history behind the haunted red house/sportsmans
arms and it turns out there is a family connection. My parents
were up visiting us last weekend, my mother was born and bought
up in Denbigh, so I asked her about it.
It turns out my greatgrandmothers sister Mary Parry, became the
second wife of one Isaac Evans who was the landlord of the Sportsman's
Arms in 20's or 30's, it may have been called the Bryn Trillyn
Arms back then. They then became the landlords of the Kinmel Arms
in Llanyrnog and are buried in churchyard next to that pub (alas
not next to the Sportsman's Arms... that would have been good).
My mother also thought the house may have been used as the setting
for a very early film version of Dickens' "Bleak House"...
I think there was a 1920 version... might be interesting to get
hold of a copy to prove it...
Anyway, not exactly a mindbending revelation, but there you have
it.... |
Keith Boutcher
I
have long been intrigued by the 'Haunted House' and it was amazing
to come across your web pages dedicated to it. I am also trying
to find out more information about this place, as well as old
photos of it before the walls and roof caved in. I used to live
in Gwytherin, so made the journey up to the old house via Lyn
Brenig a fair few times... man, what a spooky location!
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Jane
and Les Jones
Great
site,re.the RED HOUSE,20 yrs.ago I was talking to a colleague a
Legal Executive about the house she told me that it had been built
as a shooting lodge and was used by the Lord but mainly by his son(nephew?)
who was killed in W.W.1 whereafter the owner could not bear to visit
it.It was then used as a sanitorium/mental home before being requisitioned
by the War Dept. and used for military purposes (R.A.F.?) during
W.W.2 radio/radar v.hush hush.Thereafter as was usual it remained
in the hands of the Govt. until eventually passsing into the hands
of the County Council(as it then was) in the 50's when it was of
no apparent use and fell into disrepair.She told me she had researched
it and she was a conveyancer I had and have no reason to doubt what
I was told |
Adrian
Pascu
During
the Countryside March last year, a beacon was lit at the house
as locals protested there. A mobile phone mast is in the process
of being built at the site at the moment. I doubt that all the
house will be demolished, but the remains of one wall (not the
main one but the one to the right of the main view) have gone.
It is a shame that the mast has been built as in my opinion it
totally ruins the atmosphere and the sight of the house.
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