Funded by the vast profits from the slate mine of the Caribbean sugar plantation owner and anti-abolitionist First Baron Penrhyn, and extended and embellished by his great-great-nephew, this immense 19th neo-Norman folly is both tasteless and formidable. Flanked by a Victorian walled garden, the creeper-clad stone walls of the Norman fortress embower the neo-Gothic hall with its darkly extravagant rooms, complete with intricately carved ceilings, stained-glass windows, opulent furniture and even early flushing toilets.
The castle is 1.5 miles east of Bangor. Buses to Llandudno stop at the gate.
