PLAS NEWYDD
Plas Newydd sits along the shore of the Menai Strait and is the ancestral home of the Marquess of Anglesey, with its history stretching back over 5,000 years to a Neolithic burial chamber nearby. With superb views of the mountains of Snowdonia, it’s easy to see why a house has stood here since the early 16th century.
The house has changed over the years, from the original Tudor house, to the changes made by the fashionable architect James Wyatt in 1793-9 and the modernisation during the 1930s, when the family of the 6th Marquess made Plas Newydd their main residence. Don’t miss a fantastical mural, over 17.5 metres long, commissioned in 1936 by Charles Paget, the 6th Marquess, from the artist Rex Whistler. This European fantasy landscape encourages us to think we are standing at the edge of the sea on a paved promenade looking onto a stone jetty. In the distance is a coastal town of Roman and baroque architecture, along with identifiable British buildings, all backed by the mountains of Snowdonia. This playful scene was one of Whistler’s great masterpieces.