Plas Newydd
Plas Newydd ( Welsh for New Palace ) is the country house of the Marquess of Anglesey . The house is located near Llanfairpwllgwyngyll on the island of Anglesey in Wales on the banks of Menai Strait with a view of Snowdonia .
history
The oldest part of the house, the great hall with symmetrical entrances at both ends, probably dates from the 14th century. Later the house was expanded towards Menai Strait and two towers were added. It is documented that in the 15th century the wealthy Griffith family, who had their headquarters at Penrhyn Castle near Bangor and owned the most important lands on Anglesey, owned Plas Newydd. Gwilym ap Griffith had then married Morfydd, the daughter of Goronwy ap Tudur of Penmynydd and a relative of King Henry VII. In 1553, her descendant Ellen Griffith married Sir Nicholas Bagenal, Marshal of the Army in Ireland. Their granddaughter Ann married the Bishop of Bangor, Sir Lewis Bayly, who is also an educator and pastor of the two sons of King James I was. Her son Nicholas Bayly was the gentleman of King Charles II's Chamber and Governor of Galway and Arran . His son Edward Bayly was awarded the title of baronet in 1730 .
The property became very important when Edward's son, Sir Nicholas Bayly (1707–1782), married Caroline Paget, who was from Beaudesert Hall in Staffordshire . Her ancestor William Paget, 1st Baron Paget of Beaudesert, was one of the most important advisers to King Henry VIII. From this point on, the family alternated between their estates in Beaudesert and Anglesey. Son Henry Bayly (1744-1812) became 9th Baron Paget and 1st Earl of Uxbridge through the maternal line. Under his direction, the appearance of Plas Newydd was fundamentally changed. The main architect was James Wyatt , who redesigned the building in the neo-Gothic style so that it essentially got its current appearance.
Henry Bayly married Jane Champagne (1746-1817). When their son Henry William (1768-1854) was born, the family took the name Paget. In the Battle of Waterloo , Henry William Paget distinguished himself as the second man after Wellington . Towards the end of the battle, he suffered such serious injuries that his right leg had to be amputated. For his service he was made Marquess of Anglesey . His brother General Sir Edward Paget lost an arm in fighting in Spain under the command of Wellington.
Henry Paget (1797–1869) was Lord Chamberlain of the Household of Queen Victoria and later followed his father as 2nd Marquess of Anglesey. His sons Henry William George Paget (1821–1880) and Henry Paget (1835–1898) became the 3rd and 4th Marquess of Anglesey. Henry Cyril Paget , the 5th Marquess of Anglesey (1875-1905), who lived very lavishly, converted the chapel of the house into a theater and had his own theater company. He himself often played the main role, although his extravagant costumes were very expensive. He toured the UK and the continent with his performances. In 1898 he married Lilian Florence Maud Chetwynd (1876–1962), but the marriage did not last and was divorced after two years. He later went bankrupt for over £ half a million, now around £ 50,000,000, due to his money-intensive lifestyle. Henry Cyril Paget died in Monte Carlo in 1905 in the presence of his ex-wife.
Henry Cyril Paget's cousin Charles Henry Alexander Paget (1885-1947) became the 6th Marquess of Anglesey. In order to restore the family's solvency, he had to sell a lot of furniture. He married Victoria Marjorie Harriet Manners (1883-1946), daughter of Henry Manners, 8th Duke of Rutland . The only son George Charles Henry Victor Paget (1922–2013) became the 7th Marquess of Anglesey. In the 1930s Beaudesert Hall was sold and Plas Newydd became the Paget family's only primary residence. The 6th Marquess made the last major changes to the building, adding battlements on the roof, dismantling the theater, combining three servants' rooms into a dining room, and roofing an inner courtyard to provide new servant space.
In 1948 the 7th Marquess married Elizabeth Shirley Vaughan Morgan (1924-2017). Having served in World War II and being a knowledgeable military historian, he rented the spacious stables and part of the house as a naval training facility in 1953, which was closed in 1974. The space is now used by Cheshire County Council for short term educational opportunities. In 1976 the 7th Marquess gave the 169 acre property to the National Trust . He moved with his family to the top floor and lived there until the end of his life. The former private rooms on the lower floors can be visited today. The current Marquess of Anglesey is Charles Alexander Vaughan Paget (* 1950), the son of the late 7th Marquess. The family still has the right to live on the upper floor.
Exhibitions
The house is now open to the public and houses an exhibition by the painter Rex Whistler , who was a close friend of the 6th Marquess and his family. His largest mural ever made, 17.5 meters long, is housed in the house. Rex Whistler was killed as a lieutenant in the Army during World War II.
Another exhibit that can be viewed in the house traces some of the battles of the 1st Marquess. On display are his medals and awards, the blood-splattered trousers he wore in the Battle of Waterloo, and one of his prostheses that replaced his lost leg. A collection of uniforms and contemporary paintings is also on display.
The dolmens
To the north of the Plas Newydd building are two other dolmens on Anglesey that defy classification. On an axis from northeast to southwest are two chambers, each with a capstone. The northern chamber is the larger one, its side stones no longer exist. Your capstone is supported by four stones at the north end and two at the south end. The capstone slopes to the northeast, which usually indicates the location of the entrance, but the bearing stones that remain there are not in the arrangement typical of the Portal Tombs entrance . The southern chamber is very small and hardly offers space for an adult. It is very unlikely that the south chamber was a side chamber or an entrance to the north chamber, as one of the stones that form the back wall of the larger chamber blocks any access.
There are several stones protruding from the lawn surrounding the monument, but no trace of the remains of a cairn . The monument probably underwent a change in the 18th century when the building and park were redesigned.
Web links
- Official website of the National Trust
- www.anglesey.info
- www.visitanglesey.co.uk
- www.megalithics.com
Coordinates: 53 ° 12 '9.4 " N , 4 ° 12' 57.6" W.