Portmeirion

Clough Williams-Ellis bought the headland in 1925 and built Portmeirion in two phases between 1925 and 1975, to demonstrate that development could improve rather than spoil a beautiful site. The style is loosely Italianate, with a piazza, a campanile, a domed pantheon and pastel render, but much of it is salvage: he collected columns, colonnades, ceilings and facades from buildings being demolished across Britain and incorporated them, calling the place a home for fallen buildings. Scale is manipulated throughout, with undersized buildings and forced perspective making the village look larger than its few hectares. The Prisoner was filmed here in 1966 and 1967 and the village is still associated with it. The woodland behind holds a large collection of rhododendrons and subtropical planting on the estuary shore.

What's there

• The salvaged fabric - columns and facades rescued from demolished buildings.
• The forced perspective - deliberately undersized buildings enlarging the village.
• The Prisoner locations - the piazza and buildings used in the 1960s series.
• The Gwyllt woodland - rhododendron and subtropical planting behind the village.

When to go

April to October; rhododendrons in the woodland peak in late spring. The village is small and gets crowded from mid-morning in summer, so early or late in the day is better. Staying overnight gives access after day visitors leave.

Practical notes

It is entirely a twentieth-century creation and not a historic Welsh village, which some visitors do not expect. Entry is charged and the village can be walked in an hour. The site is hilly with steps. Cottages are let as accommodation and are not open.

Nearby

Porthmadog and the Ffestiniog Railway are close; Snowdonia rises north.

Key facts