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Adelina Patti's Country Estate in South Wales, UK |
Craig-y-Nos Castle and Country Park |
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Craig-y-Nos was an early Victorian country house, set in parkland alongside the river Tawe, in the Upper Swansea Valley in South Wales. It was built in 1840 by Captain Rice Davies Powell. Adelina Patti purchased it in 1878 having seen the potential to develop it into her own private estate. Her considerable means allowed her to create a personalised retreat, where she could entertain friends and recharge her energy after exhausting tours. |
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The Courtyard: Craig-y-Nos Castle |
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| It was after her second marriage, to Ernesto Nicolini, that she embarked on a major development of the site, adding the North and South wings, the clock tower, conservatory, winter garden and theatre. Not only did she build extensively but she incorporated the latest technologies of the day. |
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Craig-y-Nos
Castle was one of the first private residences in Britain to have electricity.
As well as providing lighting for the castle and winter garden it enabled Adelina to install the latest lighting technology in her theatre. An electrically powered orchestra organ (Orchestrion) was also acquired for the French Billiard Room. This was controlled by punched paper rolls, each of which played a different tune. Grand pianos were also installed in most of the rooms, including the Grand Bedroom. |
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Craig-y-Nos Castle from Penwyllt |
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Important visitors were able to avail themselves of Adelina's private transport service. A private road was constructed from Craig-y-Nos Castle to the small railway station at Penwyllt, where a lavishly furnished private waiting room was installed. An equally luxurious railway carriage was commissioned and the railway company provided Adelina with her own train to take her whenever, and wherever, she wanted to travel. Visitors included Prince Henry of Battenberg, the Crown Prince of Sweden and The Prince of Wales, who was later to become Edward VII. The Spanish Ambassador and Baron Julius Reuter (founder of Reuter's News Agency) officiated at the opening of the her private theatre at Craig-y-Nos on July 12th 1891. Adelina also had one of the first motor cars in Wales and around the turn of the century, is reported to have raced a local doctor from Swansea to Abercrave for a small wager. The un-surfaced or cobbled roads, winding up and down the hills and through the small villages of the Swansea Valley, would have made the eighteen miles seem like an endurance test. |
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Her private theatre was modelled on the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, London. The names of famous composers were inscribed in its ornate mouldings, with Rossini holding pride of place over the centre of the stage. It is still used today for operatic performances and offers one of the few remaining examples of fully functional, mechanically operated, Victorian backstage theatre equipment. |
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The Theatre at Craig-y-Nos Castle |
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The glass winter garden, with its soaring roof, tropical plants and exotic birds, was her great delight and in 1918, the year before her death, she presented it to the City of Swansea. Swansea had already made Adelina its first "free-woman" and they re-erected her winter garden close to City Hall and named it the "Patti Pavilion". |
The Crane Fountain |
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One of her original pair of crane fountains can still be seen in the castle grounds. This was made in the local ironworks at Ystradgynlais, owned by a Mr Crane. He made lots of decorative ironware featuring his favourite bird and namesake. Craig-y-Nos Castle and the lovely grounds of Craig-y-Nos Country Park are open to the public throughout the year and recent restoration of the castle means that visitors can now stay in the comfort of Adelina's former home. This lovely area is now a part of Brecon Beacons National Park, a conservation area of outstanding natural beauty. |
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