NEW ZEALANDER SELLS CASTLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23907, 7 September 1939, Page 12

NEW ZEALANDER SELLS CASTLE

BRYN BRAS IN WALES MR D. E. ALVES, OIL PIONEER FORMER DUNEDIN MAN (From clur OiTO.\Coi^spoND^lfM ’ LONDON, Aug. 14. A New Zealander is to sell Bryn' Bras Castle, which is reputed originally to have been one of the outworks of the royal castle of Caernarvon, Wales. Mr Duncan Elliott v Alves, who was bom in Dunedin 69 years ago, bought the castle after. , the war During his occupation he has spent about £150,000 in restoi“-' v ing and modernising it.' 111-health,' however; has compelled him to leave Wales, and Bryn Bras is for sale. ’ v Mr Alves left NCw Zealand with his parents over 50 years ago. As a young man he became interested in the oil industry, and spent many years in Central America. He is the founder of the Imperial scheme for securing and building up of oil for British naval and national purposes in that region,, and he .’assisted in founding a chair of oil technology at Birmingham Univer- : sity, •• Mr Alves has;been five times-’in ;’1 succession Mayor ,of Caernarvon, < He received the freedom of the>* v borough in 1931. He was ' Sheriff of Caernarvonshire 32. In the years he was asspciatbd • with Caernarvon he has prdved a great benefactor to the town. ' It '" was largely due to him that the town undertook the financial risk of holding the Royal Welsh Show in 1929, and in 1927 he gave £2OOO towards providing a new town ; hsill. ; ">' Bought Barrie’s Birthplace ; ; v '. Two years' ago, Mr Alves bought' ’, Sir James Barrie’s -birthplace; - Kirriemuir, and presented it. to. the nation. He did this to prevent it -. being, transported “ stone by stone ” ' to America. He was a friend s bf Barrie’« and he decided to . save the cottage, as a* memorial for Scotland “ f° r purely philosophical: reasons.” ~... Mr Alves is well known for/' hisCj - charitable work. ,He is president and patron of numerous associations in Caernarvonshire, Sussex, and Kent. He has also presented" Gribble’s Royal Academy picture; 1 “Our Golden Argosies,” to the Federal Council Chamber of the ' Australian Commonwealth Government, and the same artist’s Royal Academy picture. “ Nelson’s 1 First Prize,” to the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich. Castle’s Central Heating ' Bryn Bras Castle is in the beautiful country forming the foothills of the Snowdon range..' It is four.miles from Caernarvon. It has four reception rooms, 13 bed and dressing rooms, 12 staff bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a ballroom, and outer, inner, and staircase halls. There is also trie lighting and central heating. The property extends over 470 acres, and includes shooting' rights over 2800 acres of grouse' moor. Lakes and*' pools are stocked with trout, and the sea is four miles away. .*?. It is a stone castle with a Norman arched entrance doorway. The walls are ivy-covered, and the gardens are kept with care. There is a magnificent view from the stonebuilt tower from which can be' seen the Isle of Anglesey, .Puffin Island; and the mountains of North Wales.’* ' The grounds are remarkable for ‘ a number of finely-wrought iron gates, made by a famous smith in • Caernarvon. Other gates are of Italian iron work, while one of the principal gateways is guarded by the original gryphons from Temple Mar. * ■ two immense stone figures which once surmounted the gateway at the A' entrance to the City of . London. In the grounds are also a number of , statues and carvings in lead and stone, There is; a “Ladies’ RideA’a broad grass drive through woods.A and an archery court. A Ikk'e. .. covers 12 acres and is fed by spring* A and streamlets.