Today started out at Beaumaris. Another set of castle ruins set right on the Irish Sea and also part of the Ring of Iron. This was one of the last Edward built and it was never finished. It is a concentric castle which basically means two sets of walls, the outer barbican and the inner bailey. Beaumaris did have a curtained wall both on the inner bailey and the outer barbican. Some of both were still accessible so we walked what we could. Beaumaris had a partial moat which allowed vessels to come in from the sea right up to the castle dock.

We walked around the town for a while and found a crazy vintage store and of course we found something to buy. Sadly we didn’t find anything to eat. We ended up with basically some mozzarella cheese and a slice of cheap ham on toasted plain white bread. Not our best.

We had to hurry because we wanted to go up to the church to see the sarcophagus of Joan, Lady of Wales and the illegitimate daughter of King John. She was married to the Prince of north wales, Llywelyn ap lorwerth. She helped him with his dealings with the English and her father. She had been buried in it but at some point after the dissolution of the monastery the body was lost and the coffin was used as a horse trough. It was discovered and moved to St Mary’s in Anglesey.

Both Beaumaris and Plas Newydd our next stop are on Anglesey island. This was where William and Kate lived when they first married. So there was a lot about them at various spots in the larger towns. A few places were pointed out as we drove by.

Our next castle/manor home, Plas Newydd (new house) is the home of the Marques of Anglesey. The Marquess was upgraded from an Earl after the battle of Waterloo where he lost a leg. A new style of prosthetic leg was made for him which was used for years and called the Anglesey leg. So a lot of people walked on his leg.

The house was on the water and had lovely gardens and was surrounded by trees. It was the prettiest setting we have seen on the trip. They had set up a small museum of the Marquesses military career as you first entered the house. I think mainly so they would have a reason to show off the leg but it had some nice items.

The house was set up as it would have been in the 1800 so different than most we have seen. It was pretty sparse. It did have a large mural by Rex Whistler who died in WWII. He is quite popular in England and did several murals including one in the cafe at what is now the Tate museum, before joining the military to serve in the war and switching to portraits. He has a large collection of war time portraits that are in various museums and homes. At the time he did the mural he was in love with the marquess’ daughter but sadly she did not return his feelings.

The fifth Marquess was a flamboyant man who enjoyed dressing up and putting on plays and large parties. He basically ran through all the money and fled to the continent to avoid bankruptcy. He died shortly after leaving Wales. There is a recent movie about him called Mad Fabulous staring Rupert Everett.

Before becoming the Marquess the Pagent family were earls and they displayed letters they received from Elizabeth I, Edward VI and Mary. They also had a land patent with the seal.

The gardens were lovely and there was a grove up cypress tress that were quite impressive. We had a pretty day so we had an ice cream as we wandered the grounds.

From Plass Newydd we headed back to the hotel. It was relatively early so I thought I would set at the bar and work on my blog. I did have a couple of drinks but ended up just chatting with some other guests and didn’t catch up like I intended. We ate at the hotel which was not a great meal but we didn’t have to walk to get it so it was fine. They tried to be all fancy but it was nothing special. We ate with our friends so the company made up for the food.