Combining 2 visits to Mount Stuart!

Mount Stuart

The more I look up various answers to questions that keep popping up in my head about Mount Stuart, the more I realise how lucky we are to have one of, if not THE, most impressive historical homes in Scotland!  Seriously! Until a few days ago, I just thought of it as the most beautiful building I had ever seen, but there are so many gorgeous buildings in the UK.  In fact, I am hoping my next American visitors want to see this island and building since I am now desperate return and actually take a tour.  (I did a tour the first time there and am really trying to remember details I can't seem to find anywhere now.)

Entrance to the gun room where that person is standing.
Nothing actually in it now except photos as a
result of the Power of 12 exhibit.

Mount Stuart is open to the public from April - October and I am expecting my first set of American friends in April. So far, those are the only ones who have said they are coming over!  After the full calendar of visitors we had this year, I am hoping more decide the time is right to come see us - oh and Scotland!


A friend of ours suggested we watch the BBC TV program "Bute: The Scot who spent a Welsh Fortune"  and we did that, but only after we returned.  It was fascinating!  From my first visit to Mount Stuart a very long time ago, with my Mom and a friend who discovered this house for us, I remembered that the 3rd Marquess of Bute was possibly the richest man in Britain at that time. One way he made his fortune was by marrying into a family with Welsh coal connections.  From that, he earned one penny per ton of Welsh coal! This particular coal was smokeless and good for Navy ships so no one could see them coming.  Needless to say, he became very rich and seemed to have a need to spend this money in fantastic ways. Some were very community minded and we can all thank him for that, particularly Cardiff, where his coal headquarters were and his home island of Bute.  (Nothing to do with this visit, but the 3rd Marquess of Bute was also associated with Dumfries House!  He inherited this and spent time renovating it to the house we know today.  This house is in Ayrshire and one of my favourite places to take my visitors to.  Now I will need to visit again and share that other fabulous house here.)

Not usually open to the public but the indoor pool has an art 

exhibit associated with "The Power of 12" which is in a 

variety of rooms throughout the house.  These are floating

groins.  No other explanation of what they represent!  

There was always a house at Mount Stuart, but originally it was just a plain home, large of course, but not very distinct. Then it burnt down in 1877. This gave the Marquess the opportunity to reform the house into something spectacular.  This house was the first purpose built house using electricity, the first house to have an indoor, heated pool, telephone system and other things I am sure but I will attach links so you can read them on your own if you wish to know more about this amazing family home.

One of our personal rules is not to visit Mount Stuart if the sun is not shining. We broke that rule on this trip. The sun was not going to shine and my husband had brought his fish eye lens just for the purpose of seeing this house.  Oh well.  It was a good visit anyway and we will return, I know this.

Three of the zodiac windows in the Marble Hall.
With no sunshine, you can't see the crystals encased in the glass.

There were two things that made the use of his fish eye not suitable. The first one was there was no sunshine.  What he wanted was to photograph the Marble Hall.  This is one of the first places you see when you enter the house.  It is the hall with a difference. The windows that surround the hall are stained glass with the theme of signs of the zodiac.  Not only are there the stained glass figures of each sign, on the windows themselves are crystals placed in that particular zodiac sign.

Photo from last our visit last year
when there was a nice bright sun out!

When the sun shines through them, there are prisms and rainbows all over the hall, it is breathtaking. No sun? No colour....  I have looked up my photos from last year and will share the difference.

The other problem, no "problem" is not the correct word since it was a thought provoking contemporary art exhibit called "To the Power of 12" with various rooms used as backdrops.  The first one we saw was smack dab in the middle of the marble hall and it was impossible to walk into the middle of the hall to take a photo of the ceiling and windows.

The pink circle is made up of a First World War parachute and there are glass balls, 144 of them in all different sizes.  The circle is 1/12 the size of the largest crater in Belgium.  It is stuffed with sphagnum moss which was used in wound management and also to stuff mattresses.  This hall also housed 50 military hospital beds during the war. Just think of being bathed in those beautiful prism colours from the crystals in the windows!  I think this would really help the healing process.

This year

I have had the privilege of visiting Mount Stuart 3 times, the first time with my Mom and my friend who introduced us to this building, sorry I know I have already said this.  But that first visit was the best in terms of sunshine.  These past two times don't hold a candle to the beauty the stained glass windows and crystal does to the building.

Look closely and see the outlines of
WWI soldiers at the front columns.

Unfortunately 20 years ago or so, I did not carry my camera everywhere and can only go on my memory - which may be flawed!  But I do remember the chapel took my breath away!

From last year

From last year

From last year

What you need to do is visit the chapel a few times during the time you are in Mount Stuart.  To get the feeling of how the light moves and how it changes the look of the chapel.  My memory of that first visit was the chapel was bathed in red light just as we left.

Upstairs are the bedrooms and it is hard to imagine that this was a family home until 1993.  I cannot imagine children running around these grand rooms.  However, this is such a huge building, I feel certain there are rooms there where kids can be kids!

There is a lovely conservatory just next to this bedroom.  Located on what would be the roof of that part of the house, but - when you are permitted to go into that room - you can see higher parts of the house next to it.  This year, part of the Power of 12 exhibit has caused this conservatory to be closed off and visitors can just stand at the door and look in.

The pink thing hanging there is another WWI parachute also stuffed with sphagnum moss, but I don't know the reasoning behind this one.

The house opens different bedrooms every so often and it is always a bit different to visit whenever I have been here.  Always fun to see what is different!

Back downstairs to the dining room, where another Power of 12 exhibit is shown. This one shows 144 drinking cups that would have been used in hospitals during WWI, but they have all been blown up!  I could not get over the precision of how each piece is so carefully placed on this beautiful table.

The dining room

More photos to share our visit -

Even in August, this real fire was very welcoming!

close up of the soldier outline
in the chapel

All these grand houses
have ladders in their libraries!

Admit it, makes you want to break into song!
"Be our guest"

This is Mount Stuart from last year - with blue sky!
Also, there was no indoor access to the indoor pool for visitors.
This year, we were directed to the large archway at the last of centre where we could
enter a door and have a peak through another glass door to see those floating groins.

The more I see this house, the more I love it.  Really hoping I get to see it again next year!  

 “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” – Saint Augustine