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Portmeirion

Portmeirion is an Italianate resort village in Gwynedd, on the coast of Snowdonia in North Wales. The village is located near Penrhyndeudraeth, on the estuary of the River Dwyryd, two miles southeast of Porthmadog, and one mile from the railway station at Minffordd, which serves both the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway and Arriva Trains Wales

Portmeirion has served as a location for films and television shows, notably The Prisoner.

Despite repeated claims that it was based on the town of Portofino, Italy, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, Portmeirion's designer, denied this, stating only that he wanted to pay tribute to the atmosphere of the Mediterranean. He did, however, draw from a love of the Italian village stating, "How should I not have fallen for Portofino? Indeed its image remained with me as an almost perfect example of the man-made adornment and use of an exquisite site..."

Williams-Ellis designed and constructed the village between 1925 and 1975. He incorporated fragments of demolished buildings, including works by a number of other architects. Portmeirion's architectural bricolage and deliberately fanciful nostalgia have been noted as an influence on the development of postmodernism in architecture in the late twentieth century.

The village of Portmeirion has been a source of inspiration for writers and television producers. For example, Noel Coward wrote Blithe Spirit while staying in the Fountain 2 (Upper Fountain) suite at Portmeirion. In 1956 the village was visited by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and other famous visitors have included Gregory Peck, Ingrid Bergman and Paul McCartney. Musician Jools Holland visited whilst filming for TV music show The Tube, and was so impressed that he has had his studio and other buildings at his home in Blackheath built to a design heavily inspired by Portmeirion. Further to this, in 1987 he starred in a spoof documentary, The Laughing Prisoner, with Stephen Fry, Terence Alexander and Hugh Laurie. Much of it was shot on location in Portmeirion, and it included archive footage of Patrick McGoohan.

Television series and films have filmed exterior shots at Portmeirion, often depicting the village as an exotic European location. Examples of this include the 1960 Danger Man episode "View from the Villa" starring Patrick McGoohan, a 1976 episode of Doctor Who entitled "The Masque of Mandragora" set in Renaissance Italy, and an episode of Citizen Smith in which the eponymous hero visits Rimini

The best-known use of the location occurred in 1966-67 when McGoohan returned to Portmeirion to film exteriors for The Prisoner, a surreal spy drama in which Portmeirion itself played a starring role as "The Village". On request from Williams-Ellis, Portmeirion was not identified on screen as the filming location until the credits of the final episode of the series, and indeed Williams-Ellis has stated that the levy of a reasonable entrance fee was a deliberate ploy to prevent the village from being spoilt by overcrowding The show became a cult classic, and fans continue to visit Portmeirion, which hosts annual Prisoner fan conventions. The building that was used as the lead character's home in the series currently operates as a Prisoner-themed souvenir shop. Many of the locations used in The Prisoner are virtually unchanged from the series, 40 years after production ended.

Portmeirion was built by Welsh architect Clough Williams-Ellis from 1925 to 1973 to demonstrate that development of a naturally beautiful site need not result in its defilement. He wanted to practice what he preached as a conservationist and campaigner for the protection of the environment.

The Portmeirion estate includes 70 acres are sub-tropical woodlands known as the Gwyllt as well as farmland and the village itself on the southern side of its own private peninsula on the coast of Snowdonia. The estate is owned by a registered charity called Ymddiriedolaeth Clough Williams-Ellis Foundation. Portmeirion is managed by Portmeirion Limited, a company established by Clough Williams-Ellis in 1925. It's Managing Director is Robin Llywelyn, a grandson of Clough Williams-Ellis. The company is owned by Clough Williams-Ellis' 9 grandchildren.

Portmeirion is open every day of the year and provides hotel accommodation and self-catering accommodation in the cottages that make up the village. The village is also a popular visitor attraction, open daily all year from 09:30 to 17:30.

For reservation enquiries please email hotel@portmeirion-village.com or telephone reservations on 01766 770000 (fax 01766 770300)

For table bookings contact the Main Hotel on 01766 772440 and Castell Deudraeth on 01766 772400.

To contact the main entrance tollgate call 01766 772311 or email toll@portmeirion-village.com. This is also the contact for coaches and group bookings.

Please mention this web site when contacting - thank you.

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