History
Formerly the principal seat of the (now extinct) Chambres family. Allegedly descended from Jean de la Chambre, one of William the Conqueror's knights, the Denbigh branch of the family was founded by John Chambres, a follower of Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln at the end of the C13. The family were, from the C16 until the C18, amongst of the principal families of the county and its representatives frequently served as burgesses and aldermen of the town. John Chambres additionally served as High Sheriff of the county in 1713. The head of the house at the time of the Civil Wars was Captain Charles Chambres, a brave and notable royalist commander who took part in many of the significant events of the war in North Wales. Amongst these was his attack on Denbigh Castle in July 1648, when, together with Major John Dolben, he attempted to free the imprisoned Major-General Sir John Owen.
The overall complex at Plas Chambres represents a particularly fine example of a unit-planned gentry house of the Tudor and Stuart periods and, with the exception of some minor alterations and additions of the early C19 (such as the carthouse and granary), has remained essentially unaltered since the late C17. Not only do the main and subsidiary houses survive (both with timber-framed, late-medieval origins), but the site also retains a formal walled forecourt, a contemporary cobbled outer (service) court, a walled orchard and the site of a walled and revetted pleasure garden. In addition to this there is a large, early agricultural complex, consisting of a 7-bay main barn, a 3-bay byre and a 6-bay stable range, all with late C16 or early C17 timber-framed origins.
The main house is a late medieval hall house of timber-framed origin, whose open hall roof (with straight wind bracing) remains partly visible, though obscured by plaster. The house was extended and encased in rubble in the second-half C16, during which period it acquired its distinctive lateral chimneys. At the end of the century the parlour received a fine plasterwork ceiling and frieze, the latter (now obscured) dated 1598. The house was further remodelled c1680, when the parlour was panelled-out in fine raised and fielded panelling, a new hall floor was laid with conjoined octagonal flags and staircases were provided for both (perhaps already segregated) wings. At the same time the forecourt wall appears to have been extended or rebuilt in brick, as was the secondary house which, together with the stable range was remodelled and provided with wooden cross-windows.