The heart of the village had died until the community decided that with help from Hollywood actors, rugby stars and over 1000 people they could create something special
From dark, damp, abandoned pub to the heart of the community(Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
In 2017 a building that was the heart of a Welsh village closed and with it the core of the community. The Ty’n Llan pub remained empty, sliding into a state of disrepair, for over three years before that community did something extraordinary.
Within a few months of the pub going on the market in 2021 the people of Llandwrog near Caernarvon had raised thousands of pounds. Support came from celebrities, they received messages from around the world, and the launch of the shareholder scheme raised tens of thousands of pounds; enough to buy the Grade II listed building.
Angharad Gwyn, one of the founding management committee members who drove this inspiring project forward, explains: “The pub is right in the middle of the village, we have no community centre or village hall, no other opportunities to socialise in groups and as a community, so we were desperate to buy it. We were scared that it would be bought and turned into a house and it would be lost for the community forever.” For more property stories sent to your inbox twice a week sign up to the property newsletter here.
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The old pub had been transformed and the new extensions are home to a restaurant, kitchen and community room(Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
Angharad, who has lived in the village for over 20 years, continues: “This was during Covid so we had a zoom call and well over 100 village representatives joined that meeting and it was unanimous that we were going to go for it, try and raise the funds to buy it.”
But there was a worrying time pressure from the point of offering to purchase the Ty’n Llan, which began life as a farmstead and still had a pig sty at the rear of the main building, to actually buying it.
Inside one of the bar rooms in the old pub(Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
Angharad, aged 50 and director of retail company Adra, says: “Right at the beginning we were thrilled to get celebrity support including the actor Rhys Ifans and the rugby player Shane Williams – in fact we managed to gain the support of a lot of celebrities and that really helped to widen the message and get the word out there on social media.”
Angharad says that the management team was lucky enough to include Carol Lewis, the chairperson of the committee at the time who worked in the community enterprises sector and business expert Huw Jones, as well as marketing expert Wyn Roberts who led the campaign to gain media attention and social media coverage support.
But the core team were very reliant on the local community, and they couldn’t have been more supportive. A share scheme was launched and a staggering £464,800 was raised, which exceeded expectations as well as the target.
Inside the old pig sty(Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
Angharad says: “It was a very exciting time, it surprised us, we were gobsmacked actually, and we now have over 1,000 member shareholders. But we couldn’t have done it without the community, social media, and celebrity support.”
The team were also surprised at the locations of some of the shareholders, which Angharad says includes Europe, America and Australia, but why were strangers in far away places supporting the creation of a community pub in a pretty north Wales village?
Angharad laughs: “That’s the question we all wanted an answer to, why are people from over the world buying shares, because we were really surprised by the interest. I think it helped that we had celebrities that helped us by sharing our story on social media. But some people just wanted to help out when they heard the story and what we were trying to do.”
Constructing the new extensions (Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
And what the impressive and inspiring people of Llandwrog wanted to do was ensure that they saved the historic building, reopen the pub and transform it into a hub for the community, as well as establishing a thriving restaurant with rooms business.
But this project was more than about saving and restoring the pub, the site had to achieve a list of functions including creating a restaurant with catering kitchen, five ensuite bedrooms to attract visitors to stay at this special spot within this tourist area and, maybe most importantly, a community room.
The pub, seen here before work started, has had a sympathetic renovation was within its Grade II listed guidelines (Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
Angharad says: “We held a couple of open days for the plans, had Google form questionnaires so the public had opportunities to give their opinion, we tried to keep as many people in the loop as possible, but we all knew from the beginning what we wanted the building to be.
“The core ethos of the enterprise for everyone has always been the community, it’s not just a pub, it’s the hub of the village. We can hold community activities, group meetings, coffee mornings, socialising opportunities that are very important for those who live alone, clubs for all ages – Welsh learning, walking club meeting, activity club for young people – it needed to be a safe and welcoming space for all ages and I think that has been achieved.”
The new, substantial bar is a sociable space(Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
The team picked up the keys in July 2021 and instantly began doing minor repairs to get the bar open within three months and get at least some extra income coming in while conservation architect Elinor Gray-Williams and her team at Pegwar Architects began making the community’s multi-layered vision become a designed reality.
The village itself, as well as the landscape, was part of the inspiration, including its unique history. The second Lord Newborough built Llandwrog as a ‘model village’ from around 1823 for servants and pensioners of the Glynllifon estate.
With a wall gone and a full renovation, the entrance, first floor staircase and one of the pub rooms is unrecognisable(Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
Elinor says: “It’s a conservation area and as a model village it’s got a really strong vernacular focused around the church, the school and the pub – they’re the beating heart. So when the community said they wanted this really full brief I knew that this was a very important building, that we were not going to change it externally and that we had to be very strict on the new building design too.
The rear of the site was designated for the new section of the building – the restaurant, kitchen and facilities and the community room on the site of the pig sty of this former farm.
The cosy snug is a favourite space for many of the local community now it’s had a full renovation(Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
Elinor says: “The pig sty gave the site a really lovely domestic feel, there is a farmstead feel about it and it is where some of the local people remember using the sty to play in when they were young, there’s a real spirit of place here, people have a connection with the pig sty!”
With that in her mind, Elinor thought it was inappropriate to extend beyond the boundaries of the former pig sty, so that became the footprint of the new build of glass walls and ‘floating’ zinc roof.
Part of the link to the past was the floor design which includes an outline of where the pig sty walls used to be, plus a section of exposed stone walls mimic the shape and height of where the pig sty roof line used to be.
The pub now has five stunning ensuite bedrooms with actor Matthew Rhys one of the first to stay(Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
But maybe the most challenging aspect of the design was that the new restaurant is south facing, which might sound like a bonus regarding flooding the space with natural light but that was not necessarily the case.
Elinor, aged 47 and originally from Llanberis, explains: “It is more complex than it sounds, so we’ve got all kinds of intelligent glass to prevent direct sun overheating plus there are blinds if needed, plus it’s all under floor heating with ground source heat pumps.
Each bedroom has been individually designed(Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
“It’s like a big swan, working hard peddling hell for leather underground, while it looks calm and streamlined on the surface. A lot of effort, energy and time has been put into the design to make it look simple and make sure it can stand the test of time with nothing that would date too quickly.
“In the old building, well that’s a traditional pub that needed to feel as though it is welcoming, not too modern, and the conservation office really drove us hard on that – we could only go modern in the new building, so it protected what was special about the pub.”
The list of work on the old pub is long and includes repointing with lime mortar and traditional sash windows repaired. All the materials were sustainable, local materials such as sheep wool insulation and there is no gypsum plasterboard, Elinor says it’s all hemp, plus breathable limewash plaster, and even the fabrics were weaved locally or bought within Wales.
One of the pub’s ensuite bathrooms(Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
Elinor says this commitment to a ‘doughnut economy’ on this project, which is the concept of sustainable development that meets basic human needs without exceeding the plants ecological limits, takes effort and commitment.
She says: “The community have never really had a pat on the back for that because it goes unseen, people don’t know it’s locally sourced, breathable materials and I think that is a phenomenal effort on their part that they were willing to invest in that, a testament to how holistic and how thorough the community team have been in wanting to do the right thing; that they have given the conservation aspect of the project so much time.
The transition from old to new is this light-filled space that features original exposed stone walls and a village wall mural (Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
“And what they have done financially in such a short time is a phenomenal achievement too when you think about it – over the course of three to four years they have raised all this money to buy it and turn the damp and rotten building into what it is now.”
Tasked with making Pegwar’s designs a physical reality was local family run company T G Williams, member of the Federation of Master Builders Cymru and specialists in renovation and conservation projects, as the principal contractor.
Gary Williams, aged 45 and from St Asaph near Rhyl, says the project was broken down into three main phases, the first being to get the pub up and running so it could reopen and start bringing in some funds.
Stepping from the old pub into the new you are greeted by this amazing view – inside and out(Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
Whilst his team were doing the demolition of the existing kitchen occurred and the new timber framed, zinc clad commercial kitchen and restaurant was constructed, which was phase two, and then phase three was all the external works such as a new car park needed.
Of the work on the old building Gary says: “There was quite a bit of structural work at the outset, taking down some quite large masonry sections of wall on the ground floor to remove whilst keeping it on the first floor so there was some quite intricate works systems that went into that section of the work.
“As you open up you find things – rotten lintels, rotten floor joists, lots of the windows needed work, doors needed upgrading – a lot of things needed upgrading in the old pub to current building, fire and health and safety standards. You also need to allow extra time and care to hide new additions into an older building and that takes time and thought.
The restaurant includes a change in floor covering where the pig sty walls used to be(Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
“There was a huge amount of work at the site including building a steel frame within the existing walls and we‘ve also kept part of some of the original masonry walls. But this project was about renewables as well as the new, so there’s a solar PV array over the car park to help run the whole building.
“The ground floor heat system involved creating ten bore holes in the car park that are around 150 metres deep into the ground and that is a successfully running ground source heat pump system.”
Gary says the company, run by three brothers as directors and set up over 50 years ago by their father are experienced in working with committee and boards, I think it’s quite a niche thing to do, it can be stressful but we have experience in this sector, we had a period of working on community centres and are now working on another community pub project.
The restaurant also includes stone walls that mimic where the pig sty’s gable end roof lines once were.(Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
He says Ty’n Llan was a very trying project that spanned 18 months but that the client is extremely happy with the end product.
He adds: “It’s testament to all involved that we are all still on speaking terms! We’re all still on the same page. Everyone was lovely, everyone was interested, they are so happy to be back in the building, and are delighted on how it has turned out.
“Seeing the client’s face at the end of the job and seeing that they’ve got something that is beyond their expectations, like they have at Ty’n Llan, that’s what it’s all about for us.
The community team is indeed very happy with the outcome. Angharad says: “The architect’s ideas and designs are fabulous I think – it really merges the old with the new – we wanted it to be modern, new and suitable for this next chapter in the building’s history but we wanted it to also keep its character, reflect its heritage and I think that’s been a great success.”
When it came to how Ty’n Llan would look inside a dedicated team worked with interior design assistance from Ann Hughes from interior company Sled. They knew that they wanted the building to look ‘intrinsically Welsh, that it needed to reflect the heritage and history of the area and the village, and of Welsh people.’
The view from the restaurant is captivating(Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
Angharad says: “We hope that is something people pick up on as soon as they walk through the door. The place has been transformed and yet it’s still familiar, we have kept some elements, such as some of the old furniture and sourced more from local antique shops and markets for the pub.”
The interiors team have also used Welsh wool to upholster the furniture, including on the headboards of each of the uniquely decorated five ensuite bedrooms, and the paint colours chosen have been inspired by the fabric used.
Of course budget is usually the most challenging aspect of any renovation project, and so it was at Ty’n Llan. Angharad says: “We were extremely lucky to get funding from a variety of sources – we tried for every grant going because we wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. The heritage lottery grant was the main one, and lottery community fund – but there’s so many it’s hard to mention them all. We also had a second share campaign.”
The wraparound deck is perfect for sunny days and also for accessibility (Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
The building opened in November 2025 and Angharad says the running of it is the work of a large team of staff including a bar manager, a business manager, a community officer for the activities and events.
She adds: “It’s a partnership in the restaurant, the kitchen is being run as a separate business with two local young people, with the chef and his partner as the front of house.
“There are bar, cleaning and waiting staff but it’s still supervised by the management committee, many of whom are still there since the beginning but it’s nice to have fresh people coming onto the committee and there’s an opportunity every year via the AGM to welcome new members.”
The cladding used on the new builds is zinc(Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
But Ty’n Llan’s story is just one piece of a community pub jigsaw that is beginning to grow across Wales. Angharad says there’s now quite a network of community pubs in Wales that share information and experience.
She adds: “As soon as we launched the campaign to raise the share money in 2021 it inspired other communities to go for it including The Vale of Aeron pub in Ystrad Aeron. But we got help from other community pubs when we started and now we have helped others.”
One aspect of the project that is a significant piece of advice for others is that Angharad feels they underestimated the amount of work and the cost involved in this enterprise, with the business side or it as well as the renovation.
The T’yn Llan pub, restaurant and rooms is now open (Image: T G Williams Builders Ltd)
Since the building opened in November 2025, it has attracted visits from visitors and local people from a wide area, as well as being used and embraced by the community, who were queuing to get in on the day the doors opened for the first time.
The beautiful ensuite rooms have also had the nod of approval from another celebrity – Cardiff-born actor Matthew Rhys saying it was a ‘a palace, an amazing place where everything appeared to be Welsh’. He added “I would encourage anyone to come here,” said the 51-year-old. “Especially for the food – especially the chicken curry!”
Angharad says her initial feeling now is of relief but she adds: “It was a difficult task for the architect and contractor to deliver it all, but we are very pleased with what we now have. We are over the moon, it looks amazing!” Visit the community pub’s website here.
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