Plas Newydd | |
---|---|
Type | House |
Location | Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Anglesey |
Coordinates | 53°12′09″N4°12′58″W / 53.2026°N 4.216°W |
Built | 14C-16C. Substantial additions from 1751 |
Rebuilt | 1793 |
Architect | James Wyatt and Joseph Potter |
Architectural style(s) | neo-classical with early gothick |
Owner | National Trust |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
Official name | Plas Newydd |
Designated | 1968 |
Reference no. | 5462 [1] |
Official name | Plas Newydd |
Type | Grade I |
Designated | 2002 |
Reference no. | PGW (Gd) 33 (ANG) [2] |
Plas Newydd ( Welsh for 'new hall') is a country house set in gardens, parkland and surrounding woodland on the north bank of the Menai Strait, in Llanddaniel Fab, near Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Anglesey, Wales. The current building has its origins in 1470, and evolved over the centuries to become one of Anglesey's principal residences. Owned successively by Griffiths, Baylys and Pagets, it became the country seat of the Marquesses of Anglesey, and the core of a large agricultural estate. The house and grounds, with views over the strait and Snowdonia, are open to the public, having been owned by the National Trust since 1976.
From its earliest known residence in 1470, Plas Newydd passed by inheritance and marriage through more than 400 years of a family's increasing concentration of wealth, titles and estates until the ascendency of the 5th Marquess whose profligate spending almost bankrupted the estate. The 7th Marquess of Anglesey presented it to the National Trust in 1976 so that the house and grounds could be opened to the public. [3] [4]
The house site was first occupied in the 13th century and was known as Llwyn-y-Moel. By 1470 it belonged to the Griffith family, who also owned Penrhyn Castle near Bangor. [4] Before the 15th century residence was built, the proprietor of the land also owned several more tenements in the surrounding area on Anglesey. It was first recorded as being owned by Meredydd Ddu in the 1300s. After being passed from father to son until the 1470s, [5] the family of Gwilym ap Griffith acquired substantial Anglesey holdings from his marriage to Morfydd, daughter of Goronwy ap Tudur of Penmynydd, including Llwyn-y-Moel. [4] Robert Griffith built the earliest parts of the current house in the early 16th century, creating a hall-house. [2]
In 1533 Ellen Griffith married Nicholas Bagenal and they took possession of what was still known as Llwyn-y-Moel, and the property was sold or mortgaged to Henry Bagnall about 1575. Their granddaughter Ann married Lewis Bayly, Bishop of Bangor. It was Lewis Bayly who made the first major additions to the house and was the first to call it Plas Newydd (Welsh : New Hall). [4] [5] The Baylys lived in Plas Newydd, along with other estates, particularly in Ireland, and Lewis's grandson Edward Bayly acquired an Irish baronetcy in 1730 when he was styled Baronet of Plas Newydd in the County of Anglesey and Mount Bagenall in the County of Down. Lewis's great-grandson Sir Nicholas Bayly, 2nd Baronet married Caroline Paget in 1737 and became Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey. [5] In 1761, a position his family would fill for the next 100 years. Their son, Henry, was to be the beneficiary of substantial inheritances from both sides of the family.[ citation needed ]
Born in 1744 as Henry Bayly, he succeeded, through his mother, [5] to the title and estates of the Barony of Paget in 1769, [6] on the death of Henry Paget, 8th Baron Paget and Earl of Uxbridge, a distant cousin on his mother's side. As 9th Baron Paget, Henry Bayly took possession of the Beaudesert estates in Staffordshire, and changed his surname to Paget. (Unlike the Barony, the Earldom could not pass through the female line, so the Earldom of Uxbridge became extinct.) In 1782 his father died, which added "3rd Baronet" to his titles, and Plas Newydd to his estates. He also took over as Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey. In 1784 he was created Earl of Uxbridge as a second creation of that Earldom. Plas Newydd had been extended in the middle of the 18th century, with an octagonal tower at the south-east corner, but under Henry's care there were substantial additions and rebuilding throughout the estate, especially with the appointment of James Wyatt and Joseph Potter as architects.[ citation needed ]
Plas Newydd itself was greatly altered in the 18th century by James Wyatt, who refaced it, blended the towers into the building front, and made it into substantially the building that stands today. He also had constructed the large Gothic style stable block which is now part of the Conway Centre, and various lodges and gateways were also constructed. In 1812 Henry died, and the estate passed to his son Henry William Paget, who became the 2nd Earl of Uxbridge. Henry William had raised a regiment of volunteers in the 1790s, was commissioned into the Army in 1795, and distinguished himself in numerous engagements and campaigns across Europe. By 1802 he was a major-general, and in 1815 was appointed cavalry commander, leading a spectacular charge of the British heavy cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo. In recognition of his heroism he was created the first Marquess of Anglesey, although he lost a leg from one of the last cannon shots of the day. [7] The following year the 27 metre column was raised in his honour, sited to the north of Plas Newydd. [8]
At the end of the 19th century the 5th Marquess inherited the family seat, which he renamed Anglesey Castle. Renowned for his lavish spending and flamboyant lifestyle, he converted the family chapel inside the house into a performance space called the Gaiety Theatre. Plays were put on regularly, with "the Dancing Marquess" often taking the lead role himself. [9] The 5th Marquess's extravagant spending drained the family fortune, and after his death in 1905, 6th Marquess began to sell off assets to help restore the solvency of the family. The family also sold off their main home at Beaudesert and their London house, and moved into Plas Newydd permanently. [10] The 6th Marquess made the final big changes to the house by removing the crenellations from the roof, disposing of the theatre, knocking three servants' rooms together to make the dining room and covering over a courtyard to provide a roof for the servants. In the 1930s the artist Rex Whistler was a regular visitor to Plas Newydd. He painted numerous portraits of Lady Caroline Paget, and in 1936-38 painted the largest canvas painting in the UK. [11] It is a trompe-l'œil seascape painting that fills a whole wall of the dining room with an imagined scene of Italianate churches, castles, Snowdonian mountains and a complete harbour wall, with tricks of perspective that mean the scenes appear to change when seen from different parts of the room. [12]
The house has been owned by the National Trust since 1976. [13]
In 1949 the training ship HMS Conway was moored in the Menai Strait near Plas Newydd. The ship was supported from the small dock in the grounds of the estate. The ship was wrecked after running aground in 1953, and the school built temporary facilities in the grounds near the current reception centre. These were used for teaching and housing the senior cadets. The younger cadets were accommodated in the eastern wing of the house. The former stables building was used for teacher accommodation, classrooms and a laboratory. These arrangements continued until 1963 when the entire school moved into a new purpose-built building in the grounds of the estate. The school was closed in 1974 but the buildings and the grounds were subsequently acquired by Cheshire County Council. It was renamed the Conway Centre and is now managed by a stand-alone organisation, Quality Learning Partners, [14] with the support of Cheshire West and Chester Council, and is used as an outdoor adventure centre. [15]
The house contains Rex Whistler’s largest painting, measuring 58 by 12 feet (17.7 by 3.7 m).
The 7th Marquess of Anglesey retained rooms at the house until his death in July 2013. [16] Lady Rose McLaren grew up at the house along with the 7th Marquess - her brother. The 8th Marquess no longer lives at the house.[ citation needed ]
At the house there is also a military museum which contains campaign relics belonging to the 1st Marquess of Anglesey, mementos of the Battle of Waterloo and the Anglesey Leg. [17]
The house is set within an outstanding park, landscaped at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. [2] The design included input from Humphry Repton, and his trademark Red Book of before and after landscape views is still extant. With its extensive waterside site, superb location, and views of the Menai Strait and Snowdonia, it is the only Anglesey site to be classed as Grade I in the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. [18] It is within the Anglesey Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is within an Environmentally sensitive area. [2]
In January 2010, the grounds became the first part of North Wales to be included in Google Street View, thanks to a scheme to include National Trust properties by using the Google Trike which scanned the paths at Plas Newydd in August 2009, where vehicular access is limited. [19] [20]
There are two prehistoric scheduled monuments on the site. The two monuments formed a single entry in the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882, and so, along with two other Welsh monuments, were among the first to receive legal protection. [21]
Plas Newydd Burial Chambers are two adjoining stone chambers of a Neolithic burial cairn or cromlech. They stand on private lawns in front of the house. [22]
Bryn-yr-Hen-Bobl Burial Chamber ("Hill of the old people") is a substantial mound with a stone chamber, to the south of the parkland. Bones were found here in 1754. It was excavated by W J Hemp in 1929–35, and Neolithic pottery appeared to lie under and in front of the mound, suggesting a settlement predating its use as a burial site. The chamber was given a doorway following the dig, but is not accessible to the public. It is visible from the southern edge of 'Garden Wood'. [23]
In addition to the Grade I listed main house, Plas Newydd had a vast estate covering 3,848 hectares (9,510 acres) including outlying properties. The main estate lands stretched from the Grand Lodge in the north to Llanedwen in the south, taking in further listed buildings and structures in the estate grounds. [24]
Grade II listed retaining wall built between 1796 and 1819, probably designed by Wyatt and Potter for Lord Uxbridge. Although always an ornamental feature, it sets a distinctly military tone to the sea wall. The five cannons ('trunnion' Carronades) date from around 1830–45, and are from Fort Belan, at the southeastern tip of the Menai. Lord Newborough gave them as a wedding present to Lord and Lady Anglesey in 1948. [33]
Parts of the settlement of Llanedwen, including the church, lie within the parkland of Plas Newydd. Home Farm, Plas Llanedwen and the Church have two entrance gateways and lodge buildings, off the road that forms the estate's south-western boundary.
The National Trust has invested £600,000 in a marine source heat pump to provide heating for the house. [47] [48] [49] At 300 kilowatts, the pump is the biggest in Britain. [48] Its oil-fired boiler made the mansion the most polluting [47] and biggest oil consumer [48] of the National Trust's properties; [47] the renovation is expected to save around £40,000 a year in operating costs. [47] Plas Newydd is one of five properties in a pilot experiment; [47] [48] if they succeed, the National Trust will invest in 43 more renewable energy plans. [47] [48] The pilot programme includes: biomass in Croft Castle in Herefordshire, a woodchip boiler in Ickworth in Suffolk, and hydroelectric projects in Hafod y Porth near Craflwyn in Snowdonia, [50] and at Stickle Ghyll in the Lake District. [47] [48]
Marquess of Anglesey is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for Henry Paget, 2nd Earl of Uxbridge, a hero of the Battle of Waterloo, second in command to the Duke of Wellington. The Marquess holds the subsidiary titles of Earl of Uxbridge, in the County of Middlesex, in the Peerage of Great Britain (1784), Baron Paget, de Beaudesert, in the Peerage of England (1553), and is also an Irish Baronet, of Plas Newydd in the County of Anglesey and of Mount Bagenall in the County of Louth.
Menai Bridge is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in north-west Wales. It overlooks the Menai Strait and lies by the Menai Suspension Bridge, built in 1826 by Thomas Telford, just over the water from Bangor. It has a population of 3,376.
HMS Conway was a naval training school or "school ship", founded in 1859 and housed for most of her life aboard a 19th-century wooden ship of the line. The ship was originally stationed on the Mersey near Liverpool, then moved to the Menai Strait during World War II. While being towed back to Birkenhead for a refit in 1953, she ran aground and was wrecked, and later burned. The school moved to purpose-built premises on Anglesey where it continued for another twenty years.
George Charles Henry Victor Paget, 7th Marquess of Anglesey, styled Earl of Uxbridge until 1947, was a British peer and a military historian.
Beaudesert was an estate and stately home on the southern edge of Cannock Chase in Staffordshire. It was one of the family seats of the Paget family, the Marquesses of Anglesey. The estate was obtained by William Paget, 1st Baron Paget in 1546; the family's other main seat is at Plas Newydd.
Henry Cyril Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey, styled Lord Paget until 1880 and Earl of Uxbridge between 1880 and 1898, and nicknamed "Toppy", was a British peer who was notable during his short life for squandering his inheritance on a lavish social life and accumulating massive debts. Regarded as the "black sheep" of the family, he was dubbed "the dancing marquess" and for his Butterfly Dancing, taken from Loie Fuller, where a voluminous robe of transparent white silk would be waved like wings.
Penrhyn Castle is a country house in Llandygai, Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales, constructed in the style of a Norman castle. The Penrhyn estate was founded by Ednyfed Fychan. In the 15th century his descendant Gwilym ap Griffith built a fortified manor house on the site. In the 18th century, the Penrhyn estate came into the possession of Richard Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn, in part from his father, a Liverpool merchant, and in part from his wife, Ann Susannah Pennant née Warburton, the daughter of an army officer. Pennant derived great wealth from his ownership of slave plantations in the West Indies and was a strong opponent of attempts to abolish the slave trade. His wealth was used in part for the development of the slate mining industry on Pennant's Caernarfonshire estates, and also for development of Penrhyn Castle. In the 1780s Pennant commissioned Samuel Wyatt to undertake a reconstruction of the medieval house.
Llanddaniel Fab is a village and community in the south of Anglesey, Wales. At the 2001 census it had a population of 699, increasing to 776 at the 2011 census.
Llanidan is a community in the south of Anglesey, Wales which includes the village of Brynsiencyn. The parish is along the Menai Strait, about 4 miles north-east of Caernarfon. The parish church of St Nidan is near the A4080 road, a little to the east of Brynsiencyn. The ruins of an earlier parish church survive.
Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd is a village and community in Denbighshire, Wales, situated in the Vale of Clwyd about one mile south of the town of Ruthin. In the 2001 census, it had 1048 residents and 50.6% of them could speak Welsh. The figures for the 2011 census were: population 1,053; Welsh speakers 46.9%. The age group with the highest percentage of Welsh speakers was the 15-year-olds, all of whom could speak it. The villages of Pentrecelyn and Graig Fechan are located in the community.
Mostyn Hall is a large house standing in 25 acres of garden near the village of Mostyn, Flintshire, Wales. It is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building.
The Old Church of St Nidan, Llanidan is a medieval church in the community of Llanidan, in Anglesey, North Wales, close to the Menai Strait. The first church on the site was established in the 7th century by St Nidan, the confessor of the monastery at Penmon, Anglesey, but the oldest parts of the present structure, now closed and partly ruined, date from the 14th century. In about 1500 the church was enlarged by the addition of a second nave on the north side, separated from the earlier nave by an arcade of six arches. During 1839 till 1843 a new church was built nearby to serve the local community, partly due to the cost of repairing the old church. Much of the building was subsequently demolished, leaving only part of the western end and the central arcade. The decision was condemned at the time by Harry Longueville Jones, a clergyman and antiquarian, who lamented the "melancholy fate" of what he called "one of the largest and most important [churches] in the island of Anglesey". Other appreciative comments have been made about the church both before and after its partial demolition.
St Edwen's Church, Llanedwen, is a 19th-century parish church near the Menai Strait, in Anglesey, north Wales. The first church was founded here by St. Edwen in 640, but the present structure dates from 1856 and was designed by Henry Kennedy, the architect of the Diocese of Bangor. It contains some memorials from the 17th and 18th centuries and a reading desk that reuses panel work from the 14th and 17th centuries. The 18th-century historian Henry Rowlands was vicar here, and is buried in the churchyard. The church is on land that forms part of the Plas Newydd estate, home of the family of the Marquess of Anglesey since 1812 and owned by the National Trust. Some of the Marquesses of Anglesey, and some of their employees, are also buried in the churchyard.
Llannefydd is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, in Wales. It is located on the border with Denbighshire, between the Afon Aled and River Elwy, 5.7 miles (9.2 km) north west of Denbigh, 5.8 miles (9.3 km) south west of St Asaph, 6.9 miles (11.1 km) south of Abergele and 15.2 miles (24.5 km) south east of Conwy. In the 2011 census the community parish had a population of 590. The community includes the village of Cefn Berain and part of the hamlet of Bont Newydd.
In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical, or cultural significance; Grade I structures are those considered to be "buildings of exceptional interest". Listing was begun by a provision in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. Once listed, strict limitations are imposed on the modifications allowed to a building's structure or fittings. In Wales, the authority for listing under the Planning Act 1990 rests with Cadw.
Chateau Rhianfa is a Grade II*-listed hotel and former mansion in Anglesey, North Wales. Its gardens are also listed as Grade II* on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
Plas Cadnant is an historic country estate in Menai Bridge on the Isle of Anglesey. The buildings were Grade II listed by Cadw in 1967. The Georgian house dates from 1803 when it was built by John Price as his family home. The listed buildings also include Cadnant Lodge, at the entrance to the estate; a range of domestic outbuildings and an icehouse.
The Marquess of Anglesey's Column is a Doric column near the Menai Strait in Wales. It is dedicated to Henry William Paget to commemorate his valour in the Napoleonic Wars. The column is a Grade II* listed building.
Capriccio is a large wall mural by the English painter Rex Whistler (1905–1944). It hangs in the dining room of Plas Newydd, the historic home of the Marquesses of Anglesey, now owned by the National Trust, which has views over the Menai Strait and the mountains of Snowdonia in North Wales. The mural is Whistler's largest work, and also the largest canvas painting in the United Kingdom.
The Isle of Anglesey, a principal area off the north-west coast of Wales, includes the islands of Anglesey, Holy Island and some islets and skerries. It covers an area of 711 km2 (275 sq mi) and in 2021 the population was approximately 68,900.