One of the top 10 Luxury UK Spas

Penrhyn Castle

 

Penrhyn Castle is a dramatic neo-Norman Castle located between Snowdonia and the Menai Strait. The castle contains fascinating 'Norman' style furniture panelling and plasterwork, all designed by the architect, and houses an outstanding collection of paintings by old masters. The stable block attached contains an industrial railway museum and model room, a National Trust shop, a countryside exhibition, a doll museum and two galleries.

Described by at least one travel writer as a "Cyclopean Edifice," and a "megalomanic's paradise," it is well worth a visit. The nearby Penrhyn Slate Quarries at Bethesda, now off-limits to visitors, form the largest open-cast system in the world, with a huge pit a mile long and 1200 ft deep hewn out of the terraces. The quarries were first developed in 1770 by Richard Pennant, who became the first Baron Penrhyn.

A feature of the stupendous castle is the great slate bed, weighing some four tons, but there are many more attractions, including the Great Hall, the Ebony Room, and the Industrial Railway Museum in the stable yard, and the Doll Museum (containing some 1000 dolls in national costumes of countries around the world).

Click here to visit the web page of Penrhyn Castle