Plas Newydd - Llanfairpwll, Anglesey, Wales (NT)
The Welsh name of this charming house means ‘New Place’ or ‘New Mansion’ in English, but as the name dates from sometime in the fifteenth century at least, it is not to be taken too literally these days. At that time, the land belonged to the Griffith family of Penrhyn and it was they who build the original early sixteenth century hall on the site.
Over the centuries, the house and land descended through marriage to the Bagenal and Bayly families and the beginnings of the house we can see today stem from the mid-eighteenth century additional of a semi-circular turret in the centre of the east front and an octagonal tower on the south-west corner. Sir Nicholas Bayly’s son Henry inherited in 1782 and under two periods of alteration in 1783-6 and 1793-9, largely created the house today, adding a second octagonal tower (by John Cooper, a mason-architect who later worked at Chirk Castle) and remodelling the rooms on the east side, facing the Menai Strait, then constructing the welcoming Gothick entrance on the west side, with James Wyatt and Joseph Potter as architects.
Potter carried out further work in the early nineteenth century adding the north wing with an elaborate chapel. The Gothick Hall as it is now is one of the finest remaining examples of James Wyatt’s Gothick style – an elegant and elongated eighteenth century take on the usually ecclesiastic gothic style of the mediaeval period. This can be seen clearly in the delicate fan vaulting decorating the ceiling. The Vestibule, as it is known, rises to two stories and has a gallery overlooking the room. The Music Room continues this theme and provides a wonderful space for a concert or a dance. It was here that the young Princess Victoria danced at a ball in 1832.
The Staircase Hall provides an immediate contract, being in Wyatt’s more common neo-classical style. The extra thick walls of this part of the house enabled the construction of the cantilevered staircase and the overall effect is of restrained elegance and a charming lightness of touch.
Further work concentrated on farm buildings, while Humphrey Repton had a hand in the layout of the gardens, one of the chief delights of Plas Newydd. It was Repton who suggested a way to redress the balance between the Gothick stables and the main house; the stables being in an elevated position on the approach to the lower sited house. A screen of planting, including some magnificent beeches, dates from the tail end of the eighteenth century, such that the house appears quite suddenly, with the elegant Gothick entrance dominating and the Strait glinting in the sunshine (if you are fortunate) behind it and behind again, the mountains of Snowdonia, including Snowdon itself.
In 1812, Henry William succeeded his father and it was this gentleman who lost his leg at Waterloo and showed such heroism that he was created 1st Marquess of Anglesey. There is an exhibition, including, rather gratifyingly, his innovative false leg, on display in the house. The commemorative column seen on the approach to the house was raised by subscription in 1817 to honour the 1st Marquess and his bronze statue added to the top in 1860, six years after his death. However, Lord Anglesey spent most of his time at another of his houses, the now defunct Beaudesert in Staffordshire, but this means that the house remained largely unchanged until about 1900 when the 5th Marquess, a person of some character, changed the chapel into a private theatre so that he could indulge his veritable passion for acting (suitably costumed of course). The photographs on display of the 5th Marquess show just how far one can indulge one’s interests with sufficient access to money.
The final stages of alteration came in the 1930’s, when the battlements were removed from the parapets, the sash windows altered and the tall pinnacles on the east front replaced with Tudor caps to match the ones on the entrance side. The chapel-theatre was destroyed and the north wing totally remodelled. The symmetry of the north side was compromised but then again, almost half of the bedrooms were converted into bathrooms, dramatically increasing the comfort for house guests. The alterations also provided the most famous element of Plas Newydd in the stunning long dining-room on the ground floor, decorated by Rex Whistler between 1936 and 1940. All along the back wall of the room is a trompe-l’oeil showing a fantasy harbour, seascape and town, drawing in elements of Italy, Snowdon and family touches. It is not in fact a mural, but painted on a vast canvas glued to the wall. The final touches were painted in situ and Whistler also painted further decoration on the side walls, including his last ever self-portrait as a workman sweeping up leaves. The artist was killed in action a few years later in the Second World War.
On a fine day (which we were very fortunate to have on our visit) the walk through the Rhododendron Wood is a special treat. With the sun glinting on the water below, it was gorgeous in the variation of plants and trees. Many of the rhododendron plants came from the stunning Bodnant Garden (also National Trust) as ‘thinnings’ to re-stock here in 1948. On the other end of the walk along the water side, back past the house, is an extensive pleasure ground, with planting taking place at various times during the twentieth century, providing a succession of interest. Both the National Trust, who were given Plas Newydd in 1976 and the 7th Marquess of Anglesey have been instrumental in restoring the gardens to their present state.