The Smallest House in Great Britain
About
Y Ty Lleiaf ym Mhrydain Fawr, the red-painted cottage wedged against the town wall on the quay, is 72 inches wide by 122 inches high, which is roughly 1.8 metres by 3.1 metres. Those are the figures the town itself publishes, and they are worth quoting rather than rounding, because the whole point of the place is the exactness. It was lived in until 1900, when the council declared it unfit for habitation; the last tenant was a fisherman named Robert Jones who was 6 feet 3 inches tall and could not stand up straight in his own house. Inside there is a fireplace, a coal bunker and space for a single bed. The upper floor is viewed from a step ladder rather than climbed. It is open spring to autumn rather than all year, and it takes cash. The house's own website could not be opened from here to confirm the current admission price, so no price is published on this page.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓72 inches wide by 122 inches high, the published figures rather than a rounded one
- ✓Occupied until 1900 by a fisherman who was 6 feet 3 inches tall
- ✓Built against the medieval town wall on the quayside
- ✓A guide in traditional Welsh dress on the door in season
Tips
- →Bring coins. This is one of the few places in Conwy where cash is genuinely the practical option.
- →Open spring to autumn, not year-round. Do not build a winter day around it.
- →It takes ten minutes. Pair it with the quay wall and the Lower Gate rather than treating it as a destination.
Best Season
Accessibility
The building is 72 inches wide internally. It cannot accommodate a wheelchair, and the upper floor is only viewable from a step ladder.
More Attraction Activities
Conwy Castle
Edward I's 1283 castle above the river, one of four components of a single UNESCO inscription.
Plas Mawr
An Elizabethan merchant's townhouse of 1576 to 1585 with its original plasterwork. Closed 2 November to 28 February.
Aberconwy House
A fourteenth-century merchant's house on Castle Street, now open as a National Trust second-hand bookshop.