Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(11 High St; mains £3-7; 9am-5pm)
This cool little cafe, decked out in pale minty
green, serves the best coffee on the island, alongside a range of sandwiches with imaginat-
ive fillings (haggis and cranberry, anyone?). It also sells music CDs (folk, world and
country) and sports an old-fashioned jukebox.
AROUND ROTHESAY
Mount Stuart
(
01700-503877;
www.mountstuart.com
; adult/child £11/6; 11am-5pm Apr-Oct,
sometimes closed Sat afternoon)
The Stuart Earls of Bute are direct descendants of Robert
the Bruce, and have lived on the island for 700 years. Their family seat - Mount Stuart -
is the finest neo-Gothic palace in Scotland, and one of the most magnificent stately homes
in Britain, the first to have electric lighting, central heating and a heated swimming pool.
When a large part of the original house was destroyed by fire in 1877, the third Mar-
quess of Bute, John Patrick Crichton-Stuart (1847−1900) - one of the greatest architecture
patrons of his day, and the builder of Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch in Wales - commis-
sioned Sir Robert Rowand Anderson to create a new one. The result, built in the 1880s
and 1890s, and restored a hundred years later, is a byword for flamboyance.
The heart of the house is the stunning
Marble Hall
, a three-storey extravaganza of
Italian marble that soars 25m to a dark-blue vault spangled with constellations of golden
stars. Twelve stained-glass windows represent the seasons and the signs of the zodiac,
with crystal stars casting rainbow-hued highlights across the marble when the sun is shin-
ing.
The design and decoration reflect the third marquess' fascination with astrology, myth-
ology and religion, a theme carried over into the grand
Marble Staircase
beyond (where
wall panels depict the six days of the Creation), and the lavishly decorated
Horoscope
Bedroom
. Here the central ceiling panel records the positions of the stars and planets at
the time of the marquess' birth on 12 September 1847.
Yet another highlight is the
Marble Chapel
, built entirely out of dazzling white Carrara
marble. It has a dome lit to spectacular effect by a ring of ruby-red stained-glass windows
- at noon on midsummer's day a shaft of blood-red sunlight shines directly onto the altar.
It was here that Stella McCartney - daughter of ex-Beatle Sir Paul, and friend of the
present marquess, former racing driver Johnny Dumfries - was married in 2003.
Mount Stuart is 5 miles south of Rothesay. Bus 90 runs from the bus stop outside the
ferry terminal at Rothesay to Mount Stuart (15 minutes, hourly May to September). You
can buy a special Mount Stuart day-trip ticket (adult/child £20/10) that includes return
HISTORIC BUILDING
