Glynllifon: Historic hall name change U-turn by new owners

The prospective buyers of a historical hall in north Wales have taken down online marketing - after initially ditching the mansion's traditional Welsh name for an English-sounding one.

The name Glynllifon has been associated with the estate near Caernarfon for more than 500 years.

But Yorkshire firm MBi Sales offered the hall as a buy-to-let investment under the title 'Wynnborn mansion'.

The firm says the original name for the building will now be reinstated.

The company, which is based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, described the 50-room Grade I listed property in Llandwrog as a chance to "drift back to a time of butlers and footmen, and of aristocratic landowners entertaining royalty beneath vaulted ceilings".

The issue was flagged up by Gwynedd councillor Sian Gwenllian, a prospective Plaid Cymru assembly candidate for the area.

"Glynllifon's name should not be changed, it's part of our heritage," she told BBC Radio Cymru's Taro Post programme.

An expert on historic names in the area, Dr Glenda Carr, said a name change would leave her "gobsmacked".

"I don't know exactly how far back the name Plas Glynllifon goes, but the records I've seen date its usage back to the 16th century."

Simon Moppet from MBi told BBC Wales that website references to Wynnborn had been removed, and the manor house will remain as Plas Glynllifon in future marketing material.

The original website marketing the hall as Wynnborn mansion has been taken down