Richard Clough

Sir Richard Clough (c. 1530–1570). Copy (c. 1775) of an Elizabethan portrait. Sir Richard Clough (c. 1530–1570), known by his Welsh contemporaries as Rhisiart Clwch, was a merchant from Denbigh, north-east Wales, and an agent of Queen Elizabeth I of England.

The title of ‘Sir’ usually attached to his name is from his membership of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. He did not use it in England after Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558, as she did not approve of the use of such foreign honours and titles, but the five crosses of the Order featured in his grant of arms.

Early life The son of a glover of Denbigh, Clough's fortunes were improved when he was noticed, as a boy chorister in Chester Cathedral, for his remarkable singing voice and was sent to court in London:

By virtue of his visit to Jerusalem, he became a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre. Back in London, he became a factor (or manager) for Thomas Gresham and entered the Mercers' Company.

Trader in Antwerp In 1552, Clough was located in Antwerp, then the centre of North European commerce and banking. Here he met his wife Catherine Muldart, from that city. With her, he had a son, Richard.

Return to Wales

Clough returned to Wales in 1565, and introduced Flemish building styles into the area with the building of two houses, Bach-y-graig and Plas Clough. He was so rich that in his home area his name became a synonym for riches: Efe a aeth yn Clough ("He has become a Clough"), once well known in Denbigh, was said of a man who had gained great wealth, while a Welsh bard of his time said his success in life had been Faen tros Iaem, or as speedy as a stone on ice.

An indication of the appearance of the lost building at Bach-y-Graig may be found at Soulton Hall: it survives, though it lost its pyramidal roof in 1783.

Clough had lived in Antwerp where Hill and the Greshams were very active, and upon his return to Denbighshire in 1567 he built Bach-y-graig and Plas Clough. Bach-y-Graig appears to have served as a lodge-cum-office, with large associated warehouse ranges set around a courtyard, the while the more traditional Plas Clough was clearly intended from the outset as his main house. The houses were built in the Antwerp style by Flemish craftsmen and were the first brick houses in Wales.

On the evidence of the similarities of these houses with the Renaissance buildings Antwerp and also the Royal Exchange in London, a strong case has been made out that their design should be attributed to the Flemish architect Henrick van Passe. The crow stepping on the gable, at Plas Clough near Denbigh, is typical of Flemish architecture and was widely copied on the grander houses that were being built in north Wales at this time, such as Plas Mawr (1576–85) in Conwy and Faenol Fawr (1597), near St Asaph. Peter Smith maps the distribution of houses with stepped gables which are concentrated around Denbigh and Ruthin, Conwy, the Menai Straits and the southern part of Merionethshire. He lists a total of 48 examples. Another feature seen at Bach-y- Graig was the arrangement of multiple dormer windows on the roof. Another property with three tiers of dormer windows that belonged to Clough was the Myddelton Arms in the market place at Ruthin. Tiered dormer window were also copied on the roof of the older portion of the Manor House in Llanfyllin in Montgomeryshire.