0:00:02 > 0:00:07If you turn your back on the town, if you take that village track up an unmade road
0:00:07 > 0:00:11you'll find something absolutely extraordinary - Wales's hidden houses.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15In this series I'll be stepping back in time,
0:00:15 > 0:00:19going over the threshold of some extraordinary places.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21I will be revealing secrets
0:00:21 > 0:00:26and I'll be seeking out scandal-packed histories. Bricks and mortar?
0:00:26 > 0:00:28They will never seem the same again.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30Today we are on the Isle of Anglesey
0:00:30 > 0:00:32and the birthplace of the House of Tudor.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36Every Tudor house, every Tudor fireplace, every Tudor thing
0:00:36 > 0:00:42really originated in this house, and the fact that Owain's surname,
0:00:42 > 0:00:45as it was taken to be later was "Tudur" - Tudor.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49It has been a consolation prize for spurned love.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52The Marquis did actually propose to her and she turned him down.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54It has been a hovel, near rack and ruin
0:00:54 > 0:00:58and now it is the home of a mountaineering magnate.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01It was a huge commitment, but from my point of view,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04it was a labour of love and it was a labour of love
0:01:04 > 0:01:06for the family to live in and enjoy.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35I'm on Anglesey, ancient island of myths and mist.
0:01:35 > 0:01:41Everywhere you are surrounded by hints back to its dark past
0:01:41 > 0:01:45and secretive links to the ancient Princes of Wales.
0:01:45 > 0:01:50But I am coming to this house, Plas Penmynydd because it has
0:01:50 > 0:01:55the extraordinary distinction of being the family home
0:01:55 > 0:02:00to one of the big-hitter royal brands of British history.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06For the past 800 years, it has stood in the heart of rural Anglesey.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10It is a country house without grand pretensions,
0:02:10 > 0:02:14but for such a modest building, it has got a massive history.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20From the 13th century, these lands were home to one clan
0:02:20 > 0:02:24who first ruled Anglesey as warriors and nobles,
0:02:24 > 0:02:29then they ruled the world as kings and queens of England.
0:02:29 > 0:02:35This is very much a family home and is the ancestral family home of the Tudors.
0:02:35 > 0:02:40You may know them better as Henry VII, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.
0:02:40 > 0:02:47Today it is the home of Richard Cuthbertson, the owner of a global climbing equipment business.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Richard bought the house 30 years ago
0:02:49 > 0:02:51and together with his former wife,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54this is where they raised their family.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58Hello. You look wonderful, very baronial.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00Very "lord of the manor" there. Nice to see you.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Nice to meet you too, Laurence.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05How old is what I am looking at now then?
0:03:05 > 0:03:091576. We think it was rebuilt from an earlier house at that period.
0:03:09 > 0:03:14Why do suddenly, you turn a corner in a little overgrown path,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17see this rather random collection of rocks.
0:03:17 > 0:03:22What makes you suddenly fall in love with that and make this long-term commitment to it?
0:03:22 > 0:03:25First of all it is in such a beautiful situation.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27The history of the house is to die for.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30So many interesting people have lived here
0:03:30 > 0:03:33and I was aware of that when I came to see it, of course.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36Also, it is so quiet and peaceful.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39There is something about it that people have lived here for so long
0:03:39 > 0:03:42they've obviously thought it a good place to be.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45Structurally, did it have a roof, did it have windows?
0:03:45 > 0:03:47Believe it or not, it was so overgrown here,
0:03:47 > 0:03:51that the outbuildings you see here, we didn't even know were there.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54They were completely covered by undergrowth, etc.
0:03:54 > 0:04:00The front of the house was covered in slates which were bedded in lime mortar.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04A lot of what you have done here has a real sense
0:04:04 > 0:04:08of liberating the original building from this rather...
0:04:09 > 0:04:15..mealy-mouthed suburbanisation that happened under the Victorians.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20I think, from the middle of the 1800s,
0:04:20 > 0:04:24maybe the late 1800s, the Tudors didn't have a very good press,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27for one reason, particularly here in Wales.
0:04:27 > 0:04:35Maybe the pride that you would have imagined people would have felt for their ancestral home
0:04:35 > 0:04:38was somewhat suppressed and the consequence was
0:04:38 > 0:04:42that their decorative schemes they used did not really
0:04:42 > 0:04:46emphasise the fact that it is the ancestral home.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48How do the royal family today feel about it?
0:04:48 > 0:04:54I have certainly spoken to Prince Charles about it and he is interested.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57I think one day he may well want to come here.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00- Do you keep a nice full cake tin just in case?- Just in case.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03The best biscuits just in case he should drop by?
0:05:03 > 0:05:08- I have to keep HIS biscuits, in that case.- Absolutely! - I can't quite afford those!
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Let me have a look. I am intrigued by this...
0:05:11 > 0:05:15by this history and this cast of characters.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44Did you just pitch up here with your toothbrush, sit down and think,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47look at this, this is all done or was there a lot to do in here?
0:05:47 > 0:05:49There was a huge amount to do.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53To be honest, you could not even think about doing all the work.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55You just had to take it task by task.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00Admiring Richard's handiwork, what is striking is how he has managed to
0:06:00 > 0:06:06evoke medieval Wales while giving a cheeky nod to his own personality.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11Unbelievably, the Plas looked like this 30 years ago.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15But following decades of neglect, Richard spent six years
0:06:15 > 0:06:18lovingly restoring the house and outbuildings.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25It was a huge commitment, but from my point of view, it was a labour of love.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29It was a labour of love for the family to live in and enjoy.
0:06:29 > 0:06:35This is an emotional thing for you, this is a sort of real historical link.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39Yes, it was saving a very important piece of heritage from my point of view.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42It's dominated by the fireplace. That is a real eye-catcher.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45When it was built, it would have been probably
0:06:45 > 0:06:48something that people would have come from miles around to have a peek at.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52- Just to check out the fireplace. - Check out the fireplace. - Come and look at my inglenook.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54An inglenook doesn't go halfway, actually.
0:06:54 > 0:06:59It's big enough to have a reasonably sized party in, I think.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02This must have been a jaw dropper when you walked through the door
0:07:02 > 0:07:04to see a fireplace like this.
0:07:04 > 0:07:09When I came, in fact, there was a wall in the front here and just a small hearth in the middle.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13- Really?- So you couldn't really tell what was behind at all.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16So part of the excitement was wondering what was behind that wall.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18So you started picking away at it.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23We sure did. On either side, we found these very interesting niches.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28It really is quite special because there is a bit of moulding around the outside,
0:07:28 > 0:07:32then above you can see the fleur-de-lys which is, of course,
0:07:32 > 0:07:36the badge of Catherine of Valois, Queen of France and Queen of England.
0:07:36 > 0:07:42And that links the house to Catherine of Valois and therefore, it is a very important find.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45A lovely house, but it is not dead posh, it is not dead grand,
0:07:45 > 0:07:49it is not terribly royal feeling, why on earth is there an emblem of
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Queen of France/Queen of England?
0:07:52 > 0:07:56The person who was born and lived here, Owain Tudur, married her
0:07:56 > 0:07:59after the death of her husband, her first husband, Henry V.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04That, of course, is the connection of the Tudor line with this house
0:08:04 > 0:08:08and with its famous ancestry afterwards.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10- This is Tudor central?- Absolutely.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14This is the absolute starting point from which anything Tudor comes?
0:08:14 > 0:08:19Nothing would have been called Tudor if it hadn't been for Owain Tudur
0:08:19 > 0:08:23living here and having that very romantic liaison with Catherine.
0:08:23 > 0:08:28Every Tudor house, every Tudor fireplace, every Tudor thing
0:08:28 > 0:08:33really originated in this house, and the fact that Owain's surname,
0:08:33 > 0:08:36as it was taken to be later was Tudur, Tudor.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40Fascinating. Let's have a talk about Owain.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44Owain Tudur anglicised his name to Owen Tudor,
0:08:44 > 0:08:48later becoming the grandfather of Henry VII,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50great-grandfather of Henry VIII,
0:08:50 > 0:08:54and great-great-grandfather of Elizabeth I.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59We know that Owain left Anglesey behind round about 1425
0:08:59 > 0:09:02to make a name for himself at the English court
0:09:02 > 0:09:04and he managed that all right.
0:09:04 > 0:09:10The swaggering Anglesey lad caught the eye of the attractive young widowed queen of Henry V.
0:09:10 > 0:09:15During a marriage that scandalised society, Catherine and Owain had five children.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20Amazingly, within 60 years of Owain's arrival in London,
0:09:20 > 0:09:25his grandson was crowned Henry VII, and a new world order had begun.
0:09:25 > 0:09:32But, just how did the young Welsh warrior Owain become the godfather of the Tudor dynasty?
0:09:32 > 0:09:34We do have some descriptions of him.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36We know he was tall, that is for sure.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39More than one description describes him as handsome,
0:09:39 > 0:09:44we know that he was a good dancer, he was brave, a good swordsman,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46so I think he would be a very fine figure.
0:09:46 > 0:09:51And there is the wonderful legend of the dowager Queen Catherine
0:09:51 > 0:09:54looking out of her window one day at the river and seeing him
0:09:54 > 0:09:59go down there and bathe and thinking what a fine figure of a man he was.
0:09:59 > 0:10:06He was appointed as Keeper of the Wardrobe in the Queen's entourage.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09- He was her Gok?- Well, not quite!
0:10:09 > 0:10:12I think it was more of a name for a position.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17- He wasn't re-accessorising her and bringing in a cinched-in waist there.- I don't believe so.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21But it was a high position in court, so he must have been well thought of
0:10:21 > 0:10:25and I think that gave him access to the body of the Queen,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28as they would say, not literally, of course.
0:10:28 > 0:10:33But moving in those circles did mean they would see each other
0:10:33 > 0:10:39and, of course, the famous scene in Shakespeare where he stumbles and falls into her lap
0:10:39 > 0:10:41is often seen as the beginning of their romance.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46Tudor is such an incredibly big name to deal with
0:10:46 > 0:10:50in historical terms, it is the big royal brand.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52Henry VIII, Elizabeth I,
0:10:52 > 0:10:57and to think that these two world-changing monarchs
0:10:57 > 0:11:03actually derive from your fireplace is extraordinary?
0:11:03 > 0:11:07It is extraordinary, but somehow it encapsulates the energy,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11the bravery and the self-reliance that Owain had.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16It almost feels as if this is one of the great moments
0:11:16 > 0:11:21where a bit of energy and a bit of ability
0:11:21 > 0:11:27is let into the British royal line by, you know,
0:11:27 > 0:11:31taking this guy that could survive on his wits
0:11:31 > 0:11:34rather than on his inheritance,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37- and it's like opening a door and letting the light in.- Absolutely.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41Then, through Henry VII, and obviously Henry VIII
0:11:41 > 0:11:43and Elizabeth I,
0:11:43 > 0:11:48you get these intelligent, decisive, charismatic monarchs.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53Well, I think the Tudor monarchy brought about the Renaissance within Britain.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55And they brought a completely new style.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59The old order really died with Richard III
0:11:59 > 0:12:03and the new order came with Henry VII.
0:12:03 > 0:12:08It seems that there is a very defined sort of Welshman
0:12:08 > 0:12:12that can survive very well in England
0:12:12 > 0:12:15with very little material resource,
0:12:15 > 0:12:19but through charm and mercurial tact and energy.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23- Somewhat like yourself!- I'm beginning to see myself in all of this,
0:12:23 > 0:12:25exactly, in a foreign court!
0:12:27 > 0:12:32But, long before the House of Tudor was making its royal mark on the world,
0:12:32 > 0:12:37Plas Penmynydd was the local power base for Owain's ancestors.
0:12:39 > 0:12:40As you come out of the house,
0:12:40 > 0:12:44you suddenly realise that it's almost like a little village here.
0:12:44 > 0:12:52You would expect outbuildings, but these are quite regular little hutches, almost.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54The palace of a nobleman would have seven buildings.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58It was quite usual, certainly in medieval times,
0:12:58 > 0:13:04for the household offices - bakery, dairy, kennels, stable -
0:13:04 > 0:13:07all to be in separate buildings, and the kitchen, too.
0:13:07 > 0:13:13So the likelihood is that the hall would have been used for feasting and sleeping
0:13:13 > 0:13:16and then each of the outbuildings might have been used
0:13:16 > 0:13:18for a particular domestic purpose.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22Back then, you were the top of a community.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26Without you, nobody got fed, nobody got watered.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28I think that is exactly right.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30They actually ran the court system as well,
0:13:30 > 0:13:34- so even justice was dispensed by... - Well, there was no real centralised power
0:13:34 > 0:13:41other than the disembodied concept of a royal family many, many hundreds of miles away.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44But actually, on a day-to-day basis,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48you or I, at the top of our tree, would have been him.
0:13:48 > 0:13:49Yes.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58What is becoming obvious to me
0:13:58 > 0:14:03is that Owain's Welsh blood acted as rocket fuel to the English crown.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07Owain himself was descended from ancient Welsh princes and nobles.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12Some of them are buried here at the Tudor family church up the road.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Everywhere you look there are signs of brand Tudor,
0:14:15 > 0:14:20from the coat of arms to Henry VII's Tudor rose insignia.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26I'm hoping that historian Anthony Carr will shed a bit of light on
0:14:26 > 0:14:32how the Tudor's Welsh pedigree helped Owain's grandson, Henry, secure the English crown.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Where does the Tudor dynasty start?
0:14:37 > 0:14:42Well, as the ruling house, it starts, of course, with Henry VII's victory
0:14:42 > 0:14:45at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48And then, once Henry is proclaimed King of England,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51then that is the start of the Tudor age.
0:14:51 > 0:14:57Actually, Henry VII didn't really have anything like
0:14:57 > 0:15:00the right kind of claim to be King of England, did he?
0:15:00 > 0:15:04No, he was lucky. Henry was the right man in the right place.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07He had the credibility in Wales
0:15:07 > 0:15:12because he is connected to all these people, he is related to so many of them.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15To the Welsh gentry, he was one of them.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18- They could see in him what could be open to them all.- Perfect.
0:15:18 > 0:15:25And then, once you get the Tudors on the throne, there is a feeling that all doors are open for Welshmen.
0:15:25 > 0:15:30The thing about Henry VII is that actually, his son and heir, Henry VIII,
0:15:30 > 0:15:33his terrible insecurity about not having a son,
0:15:33 > 0:15:38which leads him to kill wives and divorce wives and goodness knows what,
0:15:38 > 0:15:42is very much down to the fact that he knows it is a parvenu dynasty.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45It is, yes, and there are threats to it.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47You can understand Henry, really,
0:15:47 > 0:15:51that he is driven by this need for a male heir
0:15:51 > 0:15:55because of the fear that if he doesn't,
0:15:55 > 0:16:00then the civil war of a generation earlier might be repeated,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03and that was the worst thing that could possibly happen.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06I have a certain amount of sympathy for Henry VIII in that.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12Owen Tudor wasn't just an Anglesey lad made good.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16He was an Anglesey lad made extremely good.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19What he didn't know that his grandson Henry
0:16:19 > 0:16:23would end up at the very top of that ladder, as English king.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27And after Henry, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I,
0:16:27 > 0:16:32two of the most iconic monarchs the British throne would ever see.
0:16:32 > 0:16:39But what was wonderful was that the House of Tudor made sure they repaid that debt to the Welsh.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44For the first and only time in history, a badge of Wales, the dragon of Cadwallader,
0:16:44 > 0:16:50becomes absorbed into the national insignia and symbology of Britain
0:16:50 > 0:16:52for the first and only time.
0:16:57 > 0:17:03It clear to me now that the Tudors' dynamism and resourcefulness is down to their Welsh roots.
0:17:03 > 0:17:08Their rule lasted 118 years from 1485 to 1603,
0:17:08 > 0:17:13and Tudor genes are an important ingredient of today's Royal Family.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17Thanks to Richard's restoration, Plas Penmynydd now proudly bears
0:17:17 > 0:17:23the Tudor coat of arms once again, and reminders of their blood link to this house are everywhere.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34Rather reluctantly, I am going to have to say goodbye
0:17:34 > 0:17:39and move on from the lover, the legend that was Owen Tudor.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43But history in this house didn't stop with him.
0:17:43 > 0:17:48For a start, there was the extraordinary week when Oliver Cromwell came to stay.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51Not that I'm claiming he left his helmet behind.
0:17:51 > 0:17:56One thing is for sure, I am going to have to go downstairs and find out more about the rest of the house.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00This is a very snug snug.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03- It is the snuggest of snugs, isn't it?- Is this your lair?
0:18:03 > 0:18:07It sort of is, to tell you the truth, because I can come in here
0:18:07 > 0:18:10and start looking through books and never stop, really.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12This is extraordinary.
0:18:12 > 0:18:17The last Tudor to live here of the direct line, Angharad,
0:18:17 > 0:18:21died as an only child, childless herself,
0:18:21 > 0:18:25in about 1680, and the then house went by reversion
0:18:25 > 0:18:31to the Buckley family, who were a great landowning family from Beaumaris.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33And that is the Buckley coat of arms.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36There seems to be an insertion there?
0:18:36 > 0:18:39- Well, of course...- Who is this RCK?
0:18:39 > 0:18:43RC is supposed to be me. K is Kerry, my ex-wife.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45C and E are my two daughters, Cara and Estelle.
0:18:45 > 0:18:481979 was when the house was bought.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50So it was put there is a bit of fun.
0:18:50 > 0:18:56But of course, it started just as a bit of fun, but 1979 now sounds like quite a long time ago.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00It is quite a decent history as it is.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04I think that doesn't feel like an intrusion, and it shouldn't feel
0:19:04 > 0:19:08like an intrusion, because you do seem to fit very, very naturally.
0:19:08 > 0:19:14Just what you have done in here is absolutely perfect for a space like this.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18I am imagining that you have put in the bookcases and the panelling.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21Strangely enough, the only thing really that there was
0:19:21 > 0:19:25in this room were the ceiling beams and the panelled wall.
0:19:25 > 0:19:31- And so all of the outside panelling and everything else, the floor etc, is all new work, so, yes.- Marvellous.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36Well, I think it is a wonderful, very clubby, gentlemen's retreat.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50We have actually only travelled a few feet physically, but it feels like time-travel,
0:19:50 > 0:19:54because we are suddenly in a completely different century.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59And when is this from, because it has a very, very characteristic feel to it?
0:19:59 > 0:20:03Yes. There was a date in the torching of the plasterwork of 1811,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07and that would fit, architecturally, with the features that we see here,
0:20:07 > 0:20:12the bigger window, the higher ceilings and the feel of a Georgian comfortable dining room.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17You have got a very impressive piano full of royalty here.
0:20:17 > 0:20:22Inch for inch, there is probably more regality than I have seen on any piano before.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26And look, you are in all of them, friends in very high places.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30But these are interesting, because we are very used to you
0:20:30 > 0:20:33as a sort of relaxed surfer squire in your shorts
0:20:33 > 0:20:38and everything, but actually, you have been very involved
0:20:38 > 0:20:44in a lot of very specific, very high-profile heritage work, almost.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49- How long were you chairman of the National Trust here in Wales? - For 10 years, or nearly 11 years.
0:20:49 > 0:20:55It was a wonderful job for me, because it was so close to my heart.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59Looking at the beautiful places, I'm a keen mountaineer,
0:20:59 > 0:21:03a keen surfer, so the beaches and the mountains were absolutely...
0:21:03 > 0:21:05If only you were interested in old houses as well.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07And there you go! You have got the three in one.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11There are bits of this place that are making me think that that you probably pre-haunt it.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14I think you have been here for many, many, many lifetimes.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16I have been here in another life. I like that idea.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21But you came here by a very, very odd route in many respects,
0:21:21 > 0:21:25because you started off as an executive for Heinz.
0:21:25 > 0:21:30Let's keep the parents happy, let's get a nice, straightforward job...
0:21:30 > 0:21:33- A proper career.- In beans.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Live in London, and do those things.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38Exactly. But then it goes a bit Reggie Perrin.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42- Well...- A little bit, you're not the corporate fella.
0:21:42 > 0:21:48Some strange insect must have bitten me and brought me to North Wales rock-climbing.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50And I just fell in love with the mountains.
0:21:50 > 0:21:56I am a Scot originally, so I've always liked mountains.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01And I had the Reggie Perrin moment of thinking, is the rest of my life going to be working as an executive
0:22:01 > 0:22:05in London, or am I going to do something physical
0:22:05 > 0:22:09and indulge my real joy of climbing?
0:22:09 > 0:22:14What was it like for the family? This is a moment of total empathy.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Because I'm constantly insisting that they live
0:22:17 > 0:22:22in virtually Iron Age conditions whilst the roof comes off our home or something is being redone.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27But did you get a lot of moaning, "oh, Dad, please can I have a carpet in my bedroom?"
0:22:27 > 0:22:30No, I don't think I got that sort of reaction.
0:22:30 > 0:22:37And of course, the situation and the grounds around the house were just a perfect playground.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42Very early in their lives, they fell in love with horses, and so that was very helpful to me, too.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46But I can always remember my youngest daughter's biggest complaint about
0:22:46 > 0:22:51when we went out was, are we going to see another field of stones, Daddy?
0:22:51 > 0:22:53I'm sure this house is very relieved to be owned by you.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58Because it does, as I say, have a very real sense of attracting strong
0:22:58 > 0:23:04personalities, of attracting people that like the big brush strokes.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07But it was a bit of a competitive tender in the early days.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09You were against a quite major player.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13That's right. Anglesey Council, obviously realising the historical significance of the house,
0:23:13 > 0:23:19were very keen that they should have it, and in a way, I supported them too.
0:23:19 > 0:23:25But that didn't come through for one reason or another, and it is just simply gave me the chance
0:23:25 > 0:23:29to buy it, and the situation was difficult,
0:23:29 > 0:23:33because it was a trust fund that owned it at that time.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37But the majority of the members obviously thought
0:23:37 > 0:23:43that I looked like a suitable person to have it, and I am very grateful to them.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46It is safe to say that if Richard hadn't come along, this place would
0:23:46 > 0:23:54have been a museum rather than a home. It is the only Tudor family house still in private ownership.
0:23:54 > 0:24:00But I am also intrigued by the story of one of the last big characters to live here before Richard.
0:24:00 > 0:24:0580 years ago, the very fearsome Maggie Rowlands was a tenant farmer
0:24:05 > 0:24:09who rather suddenly ended up owning the lands and house.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16I have been told that she had a very close relationship
0:24:16 > 0:24:20with the son of the then Lord Anglesey,
0:24:20 > 0:24:25but for some reason, they couldn't actually agree to go forward to marriage.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28Do think that might have been the shower cap holding them back?
0:24:28 > 0:24:34I suspect that if I were him, I would be worried about someone wearing a shower cap.
0:24:34 > 0:24:40Anyway, as a result of that, if there was a forthcoming marriage, it was called off.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43But they didn't buy the freehold.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45They were given the freehold.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50And I rather think that must have been as compensation for perhaps not continuing.
0:24:50 > 0:24:56I wonder whether any of Maggie Rowlands' family can confirm any of these romantic rumours.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Now, ah.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01I have got a posse here.
0:25:01 > 0:25:06You will probably be extremely interested to see this.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09- Wow!- Way-hey! What a shirt!
0:25:09 > 0:25:10Look at her!
0:25:10 > 0:25:14I think this sheds a lot more light
0:25:14 > 0:25:19on to the stories of her and Lord Anglesey.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23They were courting. They used to go riding. She was a great horsewoman.
0:25:23 > 0:25:28The story goes that the Marquis did actually propose to her, and she turned him down.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30- So it was her?- Silly woman!
0:25:33 > 0:25:37Well, she certainly looks like a woman that really knows her own mind.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41She is not going to be blinded by the glamour of aristocracy.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45Nobody messed about with Maggie, apparently.
0:25:45 > 0:25:50It is wonderful to feel that we have got a little bit of a resolution there.
0:26:05 > 0:26:10If you were given an opportunity to do all this again, would you do it?
0:26:10 > 0:26:12Don't think about it. Would you do it?
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Yes.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20I haven't enough years left, probably, but if the challenge presented itself,
0:26:20 > 0:26:26particularly if the feeling was that if I didn't do it, that bit of history might disappear forever,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29- I don't think I could resist that challenge.- The lure of history.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32The lure of history, and the lure of feeling that you have saved
0:26:32 > 0:26:35a little bit of it, I have to say, is quite a strong motivator.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37And you enjoy living with history?
0:26:37 > 0:26:44Completely. I sort of live in a dream world, in a way, where travelling across Anglesey,
0:26:44 > 0:26:49I think of the Druids, of the people before the Druids, of the history. I think of all those things.
0:26:49 > 0:26:54- Some bloke called Tudor lived here. - I sometimes think of him too.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58I was slightly surprised when I first met you that Henry the dog
0:26:58 > 0:27:02had such an ordinary Henry the dog-type name,
0:27:02 > 0:27:07but I am beginning to understand now that Henry is only half the story.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11Well, when he was young, he used to take our shoes, which he still does now.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13But he doesn't do what he did then, which was to chew them to pieces,
0:27:13 > 0:27:16and so his nickname became Henry Chewed-Up.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19So, from Henry Chewed-Up, it was a very small
0:27:19 > 0:27:22move to get him to be Henry Tudor.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Does the house have the last word, though?
0:27:25 > 0:27:30Is it true to say that that the inscription on the outside, which is...?
0:27:30 > 0:27:34"Peractus est opus, laus deo." "Praise the Lord, at last the work is finished."
0:27:34 > 0:27:38- Is the work finished for you here? - Well, no. I don't think the work ever would finish,
0:27:38 > 0:27:42because the grounds are very nice, you can always do more work there.
0:27:42 > 0:27:47And people will come after me, and they will have different ideas about how the house should look.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51So I think it is something that will go on for a long time yet.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53I will agree with you there.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07No, you know what? I don't think Richard's work is done here at all.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09Like most of the people that have lived here,
0:28:09 > 0:28:13most of the people that have loved this place, his energy
0:28:13 > 0:28:17and sheer bloody-minded individuality appear to be boundless,
0:28:17 > 0:28:19and I think it is wonderful
0:28:19 > 0:28:24that today's chapter in the history of Penmynydd includes a surfing squire,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26a former head of the National Trust of Wales,
0:28:26 > 0:28:33who has done so much to restore the history, the craggy Tudor royalty of this place.