The floorplan of early Plas Coch was something we wanted to identify, to know the shape of the original house.
On the face of it, it’s quite easy. The red sandstone walls were thicker and had obviously been repurposed from the ruins of Ruthin Castle. So, we just needed to find the red stone walls. Easier said than done when everything has been plastered and painted over!
Starting with the floorplan used for the fire exits when it was a Conservative Club, we altered the plan as a wall was removed.
We knew there was an alleyway (now a corridor) in the centre of the building as there still exists a window looking onto it.
One of the walls to the corridor, however, was red brick and much thinner than the sandstone walls.
We found sloped footings on the other side of the corridor which were confirmed by our builder as a definite outside wall.
Finding the sloped footings on the other side of the corridor and by the writing on the wall, clinched it for us, that the red brick was not part of the original floorplan.
It was a later extension.
So this led us to the conclusion that the original floorplan is a bit of an “L” shape. (See the picture below).
The shape of the building changed over time. There were building plans from the 1930’s that show proposed alterations. This would have been the time of the Moorhouse’s who were retired hoteliers. Then the toilet blocks added in the 90’s which lead us to now.
It’s amazing how the floorplan has grown from 1605 (image on the left) to now (image on the right).
