First off, I freely admit that this is in no way a fair comparison. Although both termed 'castles' they are completely different beasts, both in age, style and most importantly purpose. We also visited one when we were completely fresh, and the other after having done a 17 km hill walk, the exertion from which had made us more interested in tea and cake than in culture. Despite all this, in my mind there is a clear winner.
Conwy Castle occupies a commanding position on the edge of its small walled town. Considering that it was built between 1283 and 1289 it is in excellent condition, with most of its towers and even a few archways still intact. It is one of many castles built for Edward I after his suppression of a major Welsh rebellion, and was designed in part to guard the mouth of the River Conwy. It proved itself able to withstand a lengthy siege a mere six years after its construction, but by the 17th century had fallen into disrepair. It is now under the stewardship of Cadw, the organisation charged with the preservation of Welsh history.
Conwy Castle is from the outside a grand structure, a dominant presence that looks just like castles should with its thick walls and sizeable turrets. Inside however, it is slightly disappointing. Yes, there are plenty of spiral staircases to climb up and down; and yes, the views from the tops of the towers are impressive, extending over hills, river and sea. But the explanatory signs are few and far between, one tower is much like the next, and it is difficult to get a real feel of what the castle would have been like in its prime. Many rooms are simply latrines for the pigeons and the only real attempt at an exhibition is a display about chapels in Welsh castles in general, which failed to grab our interest. We stayed just a short while before moving to a nearby pub to put our booted feet up.
Penrhyn Castle on the other hand had me captivated instantly. It is an entirely different proposition: rather than being a true castle designed for defensive purposes it is a 'fantasy' Neo-Norman stately home built by Thomas Hopper for the astoundingly rich Pennant family from 1820 to 1845. The Pennants made their fortune from slate quarrying in the surrounding hills and from the sugar industry in far-off Jamaica, getting rich off the labours of others who unfortunately included a large number of slaves. The grand scale and lavishness of the castle reflects well this extreme wealth, and it must have been a magnificent, if rather unnerving, place in which to live.
The first room entered after passing through the entrance corridor is the dazzling great hall. This is a vast space with an intricately patterned vaulted ceiling, stained glass windows and imposing fireplace. It has a cathedral-like atmosphere to it, and must have made visitors feel very small indeed. The next room is the library and it is here that the full force of Hopper's over-the-top design hits you. Everything is unique, no surface remains undecorated, gilded ornamentation and intricate carving abound. It doesn't necessarily look good, but it does look 'wow'!
Another highlight is the grand staircase. I originally thought that the pillars and walls were made of plaster casts but it had in fact all been carved out of sandstone. Gargoyle-like faces look down on you from everywhere, each one different, each one intriguing. Upstairs things are toned down slightly, becoming merely excessive rather than extravagantly so. Few sandstone creatures inhabit the bedrooms, supposedly in order to let their human occupants sleep without being terrified, however Hopper couldn't seem to resist putting a few wooden ones on the furniture. In short, the place is full of the stuff of dreams, or the stuff of nightmares, depending one’s individual inclination.
So, which castle is the best? Older or newer? Practical or fanciful? Style or substance?
For me, Penrhyn Castle wins easily. Its ostentatious design is almost certainly all in very bad taste, but nonetheless I find it mesmerising.
I am now of course going to make the above comparison completely pointless by concluding that if I had time to visit just one castle in North Wales it would definitely be that of Caernarfon, which is a fantastic, immense and mostly-intact structure containing ample nooks and crannies which allow for a cracking game of hide and seek...
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