Our mission
Hafod Lwyfog farm was bought by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis in 1933 to protect it from “lakeside development”.
He was a lifelong conservationist and gifted the top of the farm to the National Trust as part of his campaign for a national park in Eryri (Snowdonia). Clough, the architect of Portmeirion, believed passionately that people need access to the countryside and natural areas to fulfil themselves and find real happiness.
Later he and Amabel gave the lake and lower farm to their daughter Charlotte, on her marriage in 1946 to Lindsay Wallace, a New Zealander. The couple met when they were completing Ph.D degrees in agriculture at Cambridge University towards the end of World War II when he was seconded from the navy. They shared a lifelong interest in combining farming and conservation values.
Their descendants, who own Llyn Gwynant campsite and farm, are dedicated to this mission of making a beautiful place productive and widely available, while protecting and cherishing the environment. We aim to care for the land and the wildlife while helping other people enjoy it too.
Charlotte Williams-Ellis and Lindsay Wallace on their wedding day, 1946
This area has been occupied by people since ancient times. This is a land of myth and of Merlin and of the Mabinogian, and early princes of Gwynedd.
Traces of prehistoric field systems, neolithic and Bronze Age burial chambers are still visible in the area, as are remnants of the Roman presence two millennia ago. We know this land has been farmed since medieval times and possibly earlier. Much of the local land was owned by the Cistercian friars of Maenan Abbey until the dissolution of the monasteries in Henry VIII’s time, when it became privately owned. The first known reference to Hafod Lwyfog dates from 1536.
Cattle were raised here, near the droving roads on the high moorlands, which were part of a major medieval route to the markets of London. From the 18th century the economy of the region was dominated by the slate industry, which was remarkably exploitative of local people and land. More recently agriculture saw intensive farming of sheep for subsidies, which resulted in overstocking degrading the land occurred here, as it did in so many parts of Wales.
Today we have reduced sheep numbers and high on the mountain cattle graze the uplands all year round to help maintain a healthy mosaic of plants.
Modern conservation efforts to restore the ecology include planting trees, reducing sheep numbers and introducing cattle to restore soil quality.
Located in an isolated area, far from council services, our off-grid systems are critical to protecting water and land quality.