Penrhyn Castle

Wolf-head bronze lamp standards, Great Hall

Date	18 May 2014
Location	Llandegai, Bangor	SH 60219 71962; 53.22624°N, 4.09534°W
Information	There has been a mansion on the site of Penrhyn Castle since the 14th century. The original medieval fortified manor house was rebuilt as a Gothic mansion around 1782 by Samuel Wyatt for Richard Pennant (1737 – 1808), 1st Baron Penrhyn of Louth, who amassed his fortune from Caribbean sugar interests and the slate quarry in Bethesda. The estate was inherited by Pennant’s second cousin George Hay Dawkins-Pennant (1763 – 1840), who again had the house rebuilt, this time as a lavishly vast mock Norman castle. The main phase of construction took place from 1820 to 1837 under the direction of architect Thomas Hopper. Although most of Wyatt’s structure was demolished to make way for the enormous fantasy castle, its great hall was integrated into the new mansion’s drawing room. The Grade I listed castle and its grounds passed into the hands of the National Trust in 1951. Further Reading Penrhyn Castle, Bangor (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales); Penrhyn Castle (Wikipedia); Penrhyn Castle (National Trust)

 

Penrhyn Castle

Great Hall, built in the style of the transept of a Norman cathedral

Detail of the Grand Staircase

Grand Staircase Hall, an intricately carved architectural feature that took 10 years to complete

Grand Staircase wall

Great Hall gallery

Gargoyle, Grand Staircase

Skylight dome plasterwork, Grand Staircase Hall

Corridor linking to the keep

Chapel

Great Hall ceiling

Great Hall gallery

Great Hall gallery