6a: Where is the Village? (The Prisoner)
Description
This article is from the The Prisoner FAQ, by Patrick LoPresti patl@lcs.mit.edu with numerous contributions by others.
6a: Where is the Village? (The Prisoner)
In real life, it is a seashore resort called the "Portmeirion
Village Hotel" (formally "Hotel Portmeirion") in North Wales,
built by the eccentric architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis. It is
located in the town of Penrhyndeudraeth. To find it on a map,
look for Cardigan Bay on the western shore; at the north end is
Tremadoc Bay; look along its north-central shore and find the town
of Porthmadog; go east, and at the north-eastern corner of
Tremadoc Bay, there is an inlet pointing slightly north of east.
Portmeirion is on the north shore of that inlet. It is reachable
by rail or car from London (see below).
The Hotel Portmeirion is a hodge-podge collection of odd buildings
and structures of all different kinds of architecture. Some were
built on-site as examples of styles of architectures, ranging from
Oriental to Italianate, and some structures or parts of structures
(such as porticos, balconies, and ceilings) were moved from other
places, purchased by Sir Williams-Ellis just before they were
supposed to be demolished. The buildings are painted in lively,
uncoordinated colors on purpose and, they say, are repainted on a
carefully scheduled rotation so that some buildings look newly
painted, but others look old and scruffy. On some buildings,
windows are merely painted on and do not really exist. On others,
they get smaller higher up to give the impression of height. The
viewer's perspective changes completely with every few steps.
The land was once the estate of an eccentric old lady who never
let anyone visit and who had a large pack of pet dogs. There is a
dog cemetery in the woods along one of the many walks and trails
through the grounds. When the lady died, Sir Clough
Williams-Ellis bought the land for his architectural project. The
beach is exactly as shown in the series. The tides are extreme,
with high tide bringing the water up to the stone wall (on which
the Stone Boat is built), and low tide exposing a very large sand
beach. In fact, you can simply walk a great distance during low
tide (a fact kept hidden in the TV series).
The main hotel served as the "Old People's Home" in the
series. The scattered cottages and buildings served as the private
homes, shops, halls, etc.
Sir Clough Williams-Ellis's daughter, Susan, went on to found a
line of pottery (dinnerware and china). Her flagship design is
called, of course, "Portmeirion". It is now world famous and is
sold in all the best department stores, including Bloomingdales.
Portmeirion Village Hotel Phone: 0766 770228
Portmeirion Fax: 0766 771331
Gwynedd Telex: 61540 PORTM G
Wales LL48 6ER
UK
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