Penrhyn Castle’s Temporary Treasures

This mock-medieval castle in North Wales was used to house paintings from London’s National Gallery for a time during World War Two

Wales is famous for its numerous splendid castles, many of them dating from the reign of King Edward I in the 13th century. However, although Penrhyn Castle near Bangor in North Wales may look as if it is a remarkably well-preserved example of such a castle, it is far from it. It was built in 1827–40 by a man whose family fortune derived from slate quarrying, and it has been described as “a monstrously vulgar neo-Norman pile”.

During World War II Penrhyn Castle was given a particularly important role to play — not as part of the defence of the realm but as a storehouse for some of the most valuable paintings in London’s National Gallery. It was decided in 1940 that leaving them in London, then subject to aerial bombardment from Germany’s Luftwaffe, was too great a risk, and Penrhyn Castle looked to be a much safer place for some the world’s greatest artistic masterpieces to be stored.

It was not a case of the National Gallery moving to North Wales, because the paintings were not on display but simply stored in the castle, many of them stacked against the walls in the Great Dining Room.