Penrhyn Castle, or country house as it was, is situated between the Menai Strait and Snowdonia and was built in the early 1800s on the site of, and incorporating parts of the original medieval fortified manor house and a later reconstruction. Thomas Hopper was the famous 19th century architect, well known for his unusual and elaborate designs. In this instance neo-Norman was decided upon.
The castle itself occupies one of the original 40,000 surrounding acres. It took upwards of fifteen years to complete and houses one of the finest art collections in Wales.
The massive fortunes of the Pennant family were built on sugar from the Jamaican slave plantation they owned and when the slave trade was abolished, slate quarried locally at Bethesda (more of that in a later post)
Blocks of ice were where brought to the Ice Tower during the winter, stored in the base and used to keep food chilled during the summer.
Just concentrating on the actual building in this post, there was so much to see and many photos were taken. Next time, the spectacular setting.
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Wow! I love this place! Very well maintained too! It looks new! And I can already tell the views are going to be spectacular!
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It’s in the hands of the National Trust now and the visitor numbers are high so they’re able to keep up with the maintenance.
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Interesting that they chose ‘neo-Norman’ style in the 1800s!
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Very! Wait til you see the inside. I’ve never seen anything like it!
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So beautiful! The National Trust are brilliant when it comes to taking care of this type of property.
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They really are. They would probably all just fail into disrepair otherwise and that would be awful.
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My country house (my only house!) is a lot smaller than this! This castle looks like it’s in great shape – I’m sure it was lots of fun to go through. 🙂
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I don’t think many ‘houses’ are on this scale 😀 It was, lots of fun.
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Quite beautiful… I might have found a new place to visit. Great post. Re-posted on Twitter and Google+.
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Thanks so much, James 🙂 It’s well worth a visit if you get chance.
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Thank you, Zoe 🙂
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I was going to ask who is maintaining this castle and the NT are looking after it beautifully! Lovely photographs Cathy and I look forward to seeing the landscape that surrounds it! I hope you are having a great day and much love to you and Finn :o) xxx
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Thank you 🙂 We have sun so I’m happy and so is Finn ☀️ Much love to you, Eivor and Pearl xxx
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Thank you Cathy, great to hear you have the sun again 🌞💖 xxx
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🙂 xxx
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Believe it or not, but I repelled down the round tower of Penrhyn Castle back in 2009. It was a very rewarding experience and interesting visit. Good memories!
Visiting from WW
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Oh my goodness! Well done you 🙂 That’s more than I could do!
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Another fabulous castle! This one not as old as others, but magnificent! I can’t imagine what it must have been like living in such a place, and that view! I am looking forward to more photos of this grand place.
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Walking round I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it was like to live there. It’s so vast and ornate. It would be impossible without the army of servants that were employed.
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I definitely wouldn’t want to have to clean it. 😉
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Me either 😀
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Great photos!
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Thank you!
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thank you Cathy, great to learn you cause the sunlight again 🌞💖 xxx thank you, Zoe 🙂
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Thanks, Zoe 🙂
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