Penrhyn Castle is a mansion and park built by George Dawkins-Pennant, who inherited a fortune in slate quarries in north Wales and slave-worked sugar plantations in Jamaica. In the stable block of the castle is a small but important railway collection associated with the region’s slate quarries. The oldest item is the narrow-gauge steam locomotive Fire Queen, built in 1848, which operated on the private railway from the Dinorwic slate quarries at Llanberis to the sea at Y Felinheli. Among other exhibits are two Hunslet engines of 1882 and 1904 that were used within the Penrhyn quarries, an open coach from the trains that carried quarrymen to work and a saloon coach for the Penrhyn quarry owners. The vast Penrhyn Castle was built between 1820 and 1833 to designs by Thomas Hopper in the impressive but aggressive style of a Norman fortresses – an extraordinary symbol of conspicuous wealth. The castle and museum are part of the Slate Landscapes of Northwest Wales World Heritage site and owned by the National Trust.
Railway Museum at Penrhyn Castle
Penrhyn Castle
LL57 4HT Bangor
United Kingdom
+44 (0) 1248 - 353084
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