History
Incorporated into the wall of one of the buildings fronting the S courtyard is a mullioned window and blocked arched doorway, evidence of the C16- C17 predecessor of the C19 development. The elaborate mid C19 Scottish baronial style house which fronts the main courtyard and is the core of Craig-y-nos was originally called Bryn Melin and was built by T H Wyatt for Rhys Davies Powell in 1841-3. This extravagance bankrupted Powell and the estate was sold to the Morgan Morgans, a branch of the Tredegar family. In 1879 the property was bought by world-famous opera singer Adelina Patti. In 1890 she had built a theatre at NE (see separate entry for history) and in 1891 a large extension to N in pink Crai stone to provide additional spacious reception rooms and accommodation for guests and changing rooms for the theatre; a clock tower was also built adjacent to the theatre, the clock mechanism dated 1884. Further enrichments included a pavilion which was built as part of a Winter Garden development at the far SE corner of the building and was moved and re-erected at Victoria Park,Swansea, in 1920, and a large glass conservatory with attached aviary facing the garden to E accessed off the S courtyard and from the breakfast room. This conservatory, one of the earliest additions, was 'the most used room in the house' and illustrations show it with extensive plantings, tables, chairs and caged birds; the attached aviary was specifically erected for Patti's collection of tropical birds. Additions to and alterations of the stable court to W were also made at this time. An aerial photograph displayed in the house shows the complete complex of the Winter Garden including Pavilion and the buildings of the frameyard before dispersal and demolition, only the single storey bothy now surviving.
The Sale Particulars of 1920 identify the main rooms as follows: boudoir, noble dining room, music and billiard room, orchestrion, drawing room, library, ante-room, palm court, conservatory, veranda. The staircase (replaced by a lift) was described as a massive oak gallery staircase with carved newels. On the floor above were 3 principal bedrooms and 4 other best bedrooms. On the top floor, reached by two staircases (still extant) were 8 further bedrooms. The S wing contained 7 visitors' bedrooms and 10 servants' bedrooms, and the small chapel. The theatre wing contained 5 dressing rooms.
Adelina Patti had a long and brilliant career, touring worldwide, sometimes with her second husband Ernesto Nicolini. This was interspersed with time spent at Craig-y-nos. The building was richly furnished and entertainment was in lavish style, with a special apartment kept for the Prince and Princess of Wales, later Edward VII. The railway station on the Brecon Neath line at nearby Penwyllt was remodelled for her and re-named Craig-y-nos; she also had her own railway carriage complete with piano and solid silver bath . The couple were local benefactors and active supporters of Welsh musical life. Nicolini died in 1898 and subsequently Adelina Patti was married a third time, to the Swedish Baron Cederstrom, though the estate began to decline. In 1905 a recording session was held at Craig-y-nos. She died in 1919 aged 76 and is buried at the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Montmartre, Paris.
Development of the building is shown clearly in the difference between the first and second editions of the OS map and a series of C19 and early C20 prints and illustrations displayed in the building show it in its heyday. The building later was first used as a hospital during the Great War, the room layout mainly unaltered though a lift later replaced the central staircase. Ward wings were built in place of the Winter Garden pavilion. Photographs show the conservatory also in use as a ward. Subsequently the house reverted to private ownership, and is currently mainly used for private functions and in association with opera performances.
Patti commissioned William Barron (1800-1891) to lay out the gardens E of the Castle. These descended beneath the main frontage in an unusual stepped terrace to the river where a rocky water garden was constructed with summerhouse (restored). On the plateau either side of the house were the walled winter gardens to S and walled kitchen garden to N with game larder and glass houses; fishponds and boating lake beyond, also rose garden, croquet and tennis courts, and paddock. A network of paths allowed Patti and her visitors to enjoy the formal gardens and the wilder meadows, woodland and mountain scenery.