We reached the extraordinary palace of Mount Stuart on the island and were given a tour. I think out of all the palaces and castles we’ve been to this trip, this mansion blew us away the most. Built in 1880 by John 3rd Marquess of Bute, the wealthiest man in Europe at the time, it is a rich example of Victorian Gothic architecture. It was the first house in Scotland to have electricity, a telephone system, and a heated indoor swimming pool. It has 127 rooms and up until 1995 it was a family home. It is incredibly lavish and ornate down to the last detail. First we entered the very grand marble hall with the marble staircase - the tour guide pointed up to the constellations mapped out on the ceiling and the Zodiac stain glass windows, one window for each Zodiac sign. The details and colours in the windows were hard to capture in my photos of them.
We went into the Dining Room which has paintings by Titian and Tintoretto - the guide informed us that they have the most valuable collection of Renaissance paintings.
In each room there is minute detail in the carvings of the friezes and columns, and they contain animals. For example, in the Dining Room the frieze contains squirrels carved into the wood, and in
the columns there are birds, caterpillars, butterflies and even a spider in a web.
We went into the Library - they have a Purple Library, Red Library and Blue Library. Currently they have a temporary exhibition on Mary Queen of Scots, primarily focusing on her execution including a 1895 film which goes for 18 seconds. Also in the Library there are books in 21 different languages.
We went up the marble staircase, which contains 21 types of marble, and into some guest bedrooms which each have en-suite bathrooms.
One of the rooms is Lady Gwendolyn’s Sitting Room - there is a bed in there even though it actually wasn’t used as a bedroom. The Guide said that they have a lot of weddings at Mount Stuart, and this is the room where the brides’ parents would sleep.
The ceiling of the 3rd Marquess of Bute and Lady Gwendolyn’s bedroom is covered with shields with a rope, and each knotted rope represents a Stuart marriage dating from 1300. The bedroom also contains a solid silver, platinum and gold picture depicting Jesus turning water into wine, a gift given to Lady Bute on their 25th wedding anniversary.
We went into another bedroom which is attached to a Conservatory - this was used as an operating theatre during WWI where patients were looked after. There were more intricate animal motifs in this room around the bed, including a lion with a nightcap on and a badger playing bagpipes. Also the face of Truffles the cat. There is a big mixture of 1880s and 1980s in the room - the bed for example was actually a 1980s addition.
We ventured into the White Marble Chapel where they still host wedding ceremonies. We also got taken down to the swimming pool, which wedding guests are able to use, and it includes a sauna which was put in in the 1970s.
After a fancy lunch in the Purple Sitting Room, we had a session with the Archivist which was really interesting. She had items laid out on the table for us to look at. In 1877, the first house built for the family was destroyed by fire so we were shown photographs of the house before and afterwards, including floor plans for the first house and the new house. There were detailed drawings of each stained glass window and an illustration of gold cutlery used by the 3rd Marquess of Bute. The Archivist told us that the actual cutlery she discovered accidentally whilst cleaning out some objects and then realised that they matched the illustration. The cutlery had been missing for 80 years. It was cool to see the actual cutlery and the drawing. The archives also contained the marriage contract of Bonnie Prince Charlie and his pistols, and a first edition of Shakespeare’s plays.
Then I walked down to the shoreline - I was told that otters have been spotted here but I didn’t see any. I also walked around the gardens which are massive. Then before heading back on this bus, we provided feedback and suggested ideas to the staff about temporary exhibitions they could have, and also how they could improve visitor engagement and attract more visitors.
I think this site visit was my favourite out of the places I’ve been to so far.
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