Bodelwyddan Castle

Four miles south of Rhyl, Bodelwyddan Castle is a Victorian mansion dressed as a medieval fortress — all battlements, towers, and gleaming limestone — and beside it stands the Marble Church, whose white spire is one of the most distinctive landmarks on the North Wales coast. The two together make a destination worth an afternoon of anyone's time, and both are visible from miles away on the A55.

The Castle

Bodelwyddan Castle is not a medieval fortress despite its appearance. The core of the building is an eighteenth-century country house, substantially expanded and reclothed in Gothick battlements and towers between 1830 and 1852 for Sir John Hay Williams. The result is a confident piece of Victorian romantic architecture — not a real castle but a powerful statement of wealth and taste — set in formal gardens and parkland with views over the Vale of Clwyd to the mountains beyond.

The castle's modern history as a visitor attraction has been complicated. For many years it housed a significant branch of the National Portrait Gallery's Victorian collection, and the combination of the house and the portraiture made it one of the most interesting places to visit in North Wales. The NPG arrangement ended and the castle subsequently closed for a period. Check current opening arrangements before visiting, as the situation has continued to evolve. The parkland is more reliably accessible than the castle interior.

The Marble Church

St Margaret's Church — universally known as the Marble Church — stands half a mile from the castle and is one of the hidden wonders of North Wales. It was built between 1856 and 1860 by Sir John Gibson for Lady Willoughby de Broke as a memorial to her father, and it represents Victorian church-building at its most extravagant and ambitious.

The spire rises to 202 feet (62 metres) and is built entirely from Anglesey limestone — the same gleaming white stone that gives it such an extraordinary presence in the flat Vale of Clwyd landscape. The interior is equally remarkable: polished Sicilian marble columns, Florentine marble floor tiles, and an elaborate alabaster reredos behind the altar. There are also the graves of Canadian soldiers from the First World War, who were stationed nearby and died of the 1918 influenza pandemic — a quietly moving addition to the church's history.

The Marble Church is freely accessible and open most days during daylight hours. Even if the castle is closed, the church alone justifies the detour from Rhyl.

Getting There from Rhyl

Bodelwyddan is four miles south of Rhyl on the A55 — junction 26 for the castle and church. By car it is ten minutes from Rhyl town centre. There is a bus service (Arriva Buses Wales) on the Rhyl–St Asaph corridor that passes Bodelwyddan village; check current timetables. There is parking at the castle.