Penrhyn Castle is a neo-Norman fantasy built in the 1820s and 1830s by the Pennant family on profits from the Penrhyn Quarry — then the largest slate quarry in the world. The castle is vast, its rooms filled with extraordinary objects, including a four-poster bed made entirely of slate weighing nearly a ton, supposedly built for a visit by Queen Victoria. National Trust. This is Experience #45 of the Snowdonia 100.
Visiting Details
| Location | Bangor, on the A5122 |
| Admission | National Trust standard charge; NT members free |
| Opening | Seasonal — check National Trust website |
| Time needed | Allow 2–3 hours minimum |
| Grounds | Extensive walled garden and woodland walks |
The Castle
The architect Thomas Hopper designed the castle in the Norman style — an extraordinary choice for the 1820s, when Gothic was the fashionable historical idiom. The result is massive, deliberate, and in its own terms magnificent. The Great Hall, the Library, the Keep (eight storeys), and the state rooms contain a remarkable collection of art, furniture, and objects accumulated over centuries of wealth. The slate bed — made for a potential visit by Queen Victoria, who declined to sleep in it — is the most famous single object.
The History
The Pennant family's wealth derived entirely from the Penrhyn Quarry, which employed 3,000 men at its peak and was the site of the Great Penrhyn Lock-Out of 1900–03 — the longest industrial dispute in British history, when quarrymen held out for three years against the owner's refusal to recognise their union. The castle and the quarry together are a study in Victorian capitalism at its most extreme, and the National Trust's interpretation now addresses this history directly.
Experience #45 of 100 — Heritage category.
Independently written — Snowdon.com