It began life as a private residence, 'Llan-y-Llan Villa,' in 1856,
it changed into: The Langland Bay Hotel, from 1891 until 1922,
then the Convalescent Home from 1925 until 2004.
It is now Langland Manor Apartments

 Wendy Cope noted that at first the Imposing Gothic house was called Llan-y-llan but was later known as Langland Castle.  He built Langland Bay Road to provide a good access to it.  The family attended All Saints church and when one of their daughters died at Langland they caused a memorial window to be placed in the church.  Henry became patron of Mumbles Athletic Sports and Mumbles Cricket Club.  He also enjoyed sailing, each year being a patron of the regatta.  

Mrs Crawshay joined with other local ladies and became a stall holder at charity events such as the Swansea Hospital Bazaar. 

Mrs. Henry Crawshay was a benefactor of Newton School, where the log book records numerous visits by her between 1867 and 1882, usually between April and September each year, to hear the children answer questions in mental arithmetic and scripture.  She “promised them a tea when the strawberries will be ripe” and on a summer afternoon in the years 1867-69 she had all the children to tea at Llan- y-llan, “a sumptuous treat”, and perhaps in other years not recorded.

 In October 1869 she entertained the children of Newton and Bishopston schools combined, one hundred and twenty in number, to a mid-day meal of roast beef and plum pudding, followed later in the afternoon by tea and cakes “in the house” and on several occasions hosted the Swansea Ragged School treat.  

Henry died in 1879 but Lisa Eliza lived on until 1887, after which the house was sold.

Wendy continued, The Langland Castle, with its furniture and 77 acres of land were bought from the Crawshays Estate, by Mr Ludlow who formed a company with other gentlemen to develop the house as a grand hotel.  The house was enlarged with a third floor added and as part of this plan for a hotel a drinks licence was granted in September 1888.  The Langland Castle Hotel was opened with fifty rooms and fifty acres of land, the following year.  

Early in 1891 the hotel came under new management, it was renamed The Langland Bay Hotel and Miss Duffield was the new manageress.  A year later it was for sale again, along with the farm.

Supplies for the hotel were ordered from Swansea and sent to Mumbles on the steam train, from where hotel vehicles would collect them.

The Walters family, who owned the Park Hotel in Llandrindod Wells, bought the Hotel in or after 1904 for their daughter Julia, who married Mr Arthur Hart.  In 1912 the hotel was managed by a German couple named Buttgen, but they were interned during the First World War and Mr Hart persuaded his sister, Mrs Murison, to take over as manageress and she filled that post until the hotel was sold in 1922.  

Photo collection of Residents 

Another Ghost Story

Christine said that there was another unexplained story that she was told by a Mrs Mcmann - 

'One morning Mrs Mcmann saw what she thought was a resident on the second floor. He was wearing ‘Hospital Blue,’ like all the other patients, who were not allowed upstairs in the morning so the girls could get on with their work. 

When she called to him, to ask why he was up there, he did not respond so she followed him into his room but when she went in there was no one there! '

It began life as a private residence, 'Llan-y-Llan Villa,' in 1856,
it changed into: The Langland Bay Hotel, from 1891 until 1922,
then the Convalescent Home from 1925 until 2004.
It is now Langland Manor Apartments.

The original coach-house, beside the Langland Bay Hotel was sold separately

Acknowledgements

Dick Hart, Past Membership Secretary of Oystermouth Historical Association, lived at Mary Twill lane overlooking Langland Bay.

Christina Clark, (née Vaughan), who remembered working with Heather.

Stephen “Yolly” Yolland, from Langland Bay, now lives in Melbourne, Australia. The extracts noted here are taken from his article:

MUMBLES is a place and a very pretty one too