A new stately home has been built at Erddig to rival the late 17th Century hall – only this one is for much tinier residents.  

The Garden Team at National Trust Cymru’s Erddig Hall and Garden have crafted an impressive ‘bug hall’ that is a stunning replica of the property’s house, which was home to the Yorke family for more than 200 years.  

Designed to attract pollinators and other beneficial insects such as bees, the new bug hall is in the cottage border near the glasshouses. It has taken a gardener with help from two volunteers around six months to complete in between caring for Erddig’s extensive 18th Century Grade I-listed walled garden. 

The 168cm-wide hall was crafted using reused timber from the Erddig estate and filled with garden waste including cuttings from the garden’s iconic pleached limes and espaliered apple trees.  

The Leader: The creator of the bug hall, Erddig gardener Sarah Green, said: “The idea came to me as I was pruning the Portuguese laurels - which gave me a bird’s eye view of the house.  

“I thought it would be a great way of increasing biodiversity in the garden, encouraging pollinators and also predators that will help manage damaging pests, while also showing how we can repurpose items to benefit both nature and people.  

“I hope the bug hall will be something extra that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike on a visit to the garden and even perhaps inspire people to make one in their own at home.” 

Sarah spent hours painstakingly carving hundreds of tiny tiles onto the roof of the bug hall using a pyrography pen – a process of burning into the wood using a heated tool.  

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The Leader: Erddig Bug Hall (National Trust)Erddig Bug Hall (National Trust) (Image: National Trust)Look closely and you’ll also see butterflies and other insects carved onto its walls. These designs are direct copies of the creatures found on the 18th Century fabric, wallpaper and furniture in Erddig Hall itself.  

The insects feature on the hand painted Chinese wallpaper and state bed’s silk embroidered curtains in the State Bedroom - a room once used to accommodate the home’s most distinguished guests. They can also be seen on servant and artist Elizabeth Ratcliffe’s 18th Century pier tabletop in the gallery and on a clock case on the North Landing, parts of which were made by her father John Ratcliffe.  

The garden team will now sow a border of wildflowers, with help from visitors during May half term, and add an inactive refurbished beehive with wildflower information to complete the area.