Plas Newydd

Plas Newydd is a country house set beside the Menai Strait on Anglesey. The present building began in 1470 and grew through the centuries. It became the home of the Marquesses of Anglesey and the centre of a large estate. The house stands in gardens, parkland and woodland with views across the strait to Snowdonia. Since 1976 it has belonged to the National Trust and is open to the public. The house tells the story of more than forty generations of one family. Robert Griffith built the earliest parts in the early 16th century. Lewis Bayly, Bishop of Bangor, made the first major additions and gave it the name Plas Newydd. In the 18th century James Wyatt refaced the house and created the Gothic stable block. The 1st Marquess of Anglesey led the heavy cavalry charge at Waterloo and lost a leg in the battle. Visitors find Rex Whistler’s vast trompe-l’oeil seascape in the dining room. The military museum holds relics of the 1st Marquess and Waterloo. Outside, the parkland and gardens stretch down to the water’s edge. The Gothic stable block now forms part of the Conway Centre. The house remains a place where history is still lived in by the family who once owned it.