Plas Newydd, set in gardens, parkland and woodland, with views over the Menai strait and Snowdonia, has its origins in 1470, and evolved over the centuries to become one of Anglesey's principal residences. It was greatly altered in the 18th century by James Wyatt, who refaced it, blended the towers into the building front, and constructed the large Gothic style stable block. In 1812, the estate passed to Henry William Paget, who raised a regiment of volunteers in the 1790s. By 1802 he was a major-general, and in 1815 was appointed cavalry commander, leading a spectacular charge of the British heavy cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo. In recognition of his heroism he was created the 1st Marquess of Anglesey, although he lost a leg from one of the last cannon shots of the day. The 5th Marquess was infamous for converting the Chapel to a Gaiety Theatre and performing a spectacular dance in the costume shown here. He died young after frittering away £43million on fancy dress.
In the 1930s the artist Rex Whistler was a regular visitor to Plas Newydd and painted the largest canvas painting in the UK. It is a trompe-l'oeil seascape painting that fills a whole wall of the dining room with an imagined scene of Italianate churches, castles, Snowdonian mountains and a complete harbour wall, with tricks of perspective that mean the scenes appear to change when seen from different parts of the room.
