4885

 

II  

Designated  

14/01/1971  

23/08/2002  

Central Piazza  

 

Gwynedd  

Penrhyndeudraeth  

 

Portmeirion  

258951  

337192  

 

In the centre of the village and forming its focus.  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

 

Portmeirion was designed and laid out by the celebrated architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis (1883-1978) following his purchase of the estate, then called Aber Iâ, in 1926. The village evolved over several decades and was still being added to in the 1970s. The Central Piazza was laid out in 1965, replacing a tennis court from the 1930s; Clough Williams-Ellis had already drawn up plans for `The Piazza' in 1925, though they remained unexecuted, and were extensively revised in 1963. The oriental figures were used for the filming of "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" as also the statue of Buddha (qv). originating in Siam. The fountain was brought from Venice.  

The Central Piazza occupies the main flat area in the centre of the village and consists of a formal fountain basin set within a raised and revetted terrace; this is approached by a shallow flight of cobbled steps from the lower level in front of the Gothick Pavilion (to the S). These steps are flanked by 2 urns and a balustrade, with tall Ionic columns at each end. The columns are topped by gilded oriental dancing figures. The fountain basin is rectangular with apsidal ends and has low copings; at the southern end is a circular stone fountain on a circular plinth. Raised flower beds surround the fountain basin.  

 

Listed for its significance as the main village square and fountain; one of a number of buildings and structures designed by the eminent architect and conservationist Sir Clough Williams-Ellis for his visionary Portmeirion villiage. Group value with other listed items at Portmeirion.