The first thing I said on approaching this building was ‘It looks like something from Game of Thrones.’ It hasn’t actually been used in any filming as far as I can tell – but walking through it makes you feel a bit like you’re in a movie.
It’s also not actually a medieval castle, but a Neo-Norman structure built between 1820 and 1837. It includes a Victorian kitchen, walled gardens, and a railway museum.
It’s a huge opulent building, funded by wealth partly coming from enslaved people, sugar and slate. Despite its size, it wasn’t even the main residence of the owners, the Pennant family. It served more as a holiday home, where they entertained guests such as Queen Victoria and William Gladstone.
Inside is rich, dark, and full of fantastical carvings. It’s Gothic and then some. I suspect 14-year-old me would have had an absolute ball creating a ghost story based on its warren of rooms and corridors (and whose protagonist would also have been a 14-year-old girl). Current-aged me also found some inspiration around story ideas.
But the real history of this place has an ugly side. The Pennant family owned sugar plantations in Jamaica, building their fortune off the backs of countless enslaved people from the 17th century onward, with family members actively campaigning against the abolition of slavery. Back in Wales, they made more money from slate mines and transportation. Though the miners were paid they still had to work in terrible conditions and were badly treated leading to the longest labour dispute in British history from 1900–1903. The house was passed to the National Trust in 1951.
Many, if not all, grand buildings like this were doubtless built off some level of exploitation. This fact becomes more evident when viewed from a modern angle, but that shouldn’t suggest people weren’t aware of it back then. The sheer size of Penrhyn really helps hammer home how vastly wealthy its owners were – it’s estimated to have cost around £50 million in today’s money – and how that kind of money is only really possible if others lose out.
That doesn’t mean it can’t be a good setting for a story. In fact, a tale showing all sides of those who “built” the place would be a very interesting read. And as a setting for a ghost story, gothic romance, or murder mystery, Penrhyn would take some beating.
What do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
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