He bought a bunch of other buildings and glommed them onto the edges of St. Donat's. He used the castle as a hide-away for his mistress, and had a phone line installed in the summer house below, so she could get calls from Hollywood. He only visited the castle a few times.
Fonmon Castle, up the road from St. Donat's, belonged to a friend, and her family has lived there for hundreds of years. 
Her brother is the hereditary peer and does all sorts of things to keep the place in the family and out of the hands of the tax man.
Caerphilly Castle, the second largest castle in the UK, after Windsor, was always a big favourite of mine. It was nine miles exactly from our house, and I would drive over on summer evenings and walk around the perimeter of the castle and its two moats.
Even Cardiff had two castles, a twelfth century one and a Victorian-era one, both ringed with a Victorian-era stone wall with all sorts of animals climbing their way over it. I should post the rest of these guys sometime...
The entire country of Wales was encircled with an Iron Ring of Castles to keep the English out from the land side and the Celts out from the sea side. So every where you go, there are castle ruins - around every corner, along the coast, peeping out of the woods.
There are three castles currently for sale in the UK, but none are in Wales. One's a ruin in Scotland, but the heritage trust will help you rebuild it. 
One was home to Catherine Parr, but it's really a semi-detached house, so you'd have to share it.
The third has eight bedrooms, so you could have loads of friends over for the weekend.
I'd rather have any one of these than almost any one of Damien Hirst's pieces, which just sold for £70.5 million! Which one do you like the most?
The ruin has the best surroundings. Perhaps one could sneak a tiny bedsit into it and leave it looking as it does now.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'd love to buy a castle.
ReplyDeleteBut I'd really love to buy that stone bear!
Wait... They turned a CASTLE into a semi?? That's just wrong... and hilarious!
ReplyDeletelove the second to last pic - they must have installed some new windows - the place isn't too big and doesn't appear to be too dark and damp - the fortress in Wales must be a little creepy inside as well as damp and dark. If you have not read I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith you must. She is also the author of One Hundred and One Dalmations.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful castle....
ReplyDelete70.5 million! that's so wrong. Any castle would do, but I'd rather have the one with 8 bedrooms. Used to visit a girlfriend in Cardiff a lot - it's a great city.Went to an amazing wedding reception in Cardiff castle a few years ago -it was a night to remember!
ReplyDeleteUh, I'd take a castle! I can't even imagine what the upkeep would be though.
ReplyDeleteI would love to VISIT a castle - I'm with PVE -the upkeep would be horrendous! So maybe I would choose the semi-attached one ;-) Or a condo in a castle would work well!
ReplyDeleteBalsam... Scottish Heritage is willing to help underwrite any changes to the property!
ReplyDeletePamela... I will have to post the rest of these critters. They line the stone wall around the Castle, along the main road. It's a really odd selection, including a pelican.
ReplyDeleteJust... I think they've sub-divided the place. And as Marnie said, it even looks like it's got nice double paned glazing!
ReplyDeleteMarnie... Caerphilly is HUGE inside and it has a fireplace that's at least 20 feet high! I have a photo of a friend standing in it.
ReplyDeleteI have read I Captured the Castle. It's a sweet little book.
When I worked at St. Donat's, we all had personal space heaters because our office was sooooo cold and damp. The bathrooms were down three flights and were in the old dungeons!
The last one is my favourite; it is so stern and a bit forbidding. I like that in a castle, either real or imitation.
ReplyDeleteI always loved Bodiam Castle. Nothing says "Howdy neighbor," like a moat.
ReplyDeleteCube... in the top picture, you can see the remains of the old moat at St. Donat's.
ReplyDeleteAh for a little place to call my own. A place to hang my hat. Room for a few friends to make for a delightful weekend in the country. And to remember the smell of wet tweed and damp bedding. Les rêves....
ReplyDeleteBut would we all have to wear those felt slippers to help keep the floors polished? You're all invited.
E&E... the floors at St. Donat's were well-polished by years and years of feet walking across the. The stone steps in the tower where my office was, were worn in the middle. It was incredible to think of all of the footsteps that trod them.
ReplyDeleteI wish Scottish Heritage would explain that generous concept to New York State so I could fix my antique chimneys.
ReplyDeleteI worked on Capitol Hill for many years, and there are marble steps in the Capitol stairwells...and the other buildings, that cave in the middle worn by steps over time. It's fascinating, isn't it? I couldn't walk on those worn spots and not think about those people.
ReplyDeleteA castle, even a ruin, wins hands down any day over Damien Hirst's shark, zebra or unicorn for that matter!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment on French Essence today xv
WOW... lovely post! I would love to have a castle... it must come with servants... I would not want to clean one!
ReplyDeleteThe ruin in Scotland looks so romantic. And the view! I agree that if you had a castle you'd need a staff of servants inside and also outside. Lots to maintain.
ReplyDeleteJulie... one of my favourite pictures was of a Scottish castle, with a watchtower on a hill above.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention that St. Donat's had a watchtower, too. It was covered with green vines and then one day, I looked and the estate staff had pulled the vines down and it was bare stone.
Meg, how could you leave?!?! It is like all of the fairy tales I loved (and still love)growing up. Time to take the kids on a trip. Just beautiful.
ReplyDelete