This is Lulworth Castle in Dorset, England. Apparently built on the site of an ancient fortified castle. The foundations of this version of the castle were started in 1588 and it was completed in 1609. The castle was actually built as a hunting lodge by Thomas Howard, 3rd Viscount Howard of Bindon to provide ‘comfortable accommodation’ for his regal and high-born visitors to his deer park where they would hunt at leisure.
A contemporary illustration of the castle and its grounds in its heyday is shown below.
The scale of the castle grounds today can be seen below, including the church and outbuildings.
In 1641 the castle was seized by the Roundheads (Parliamentarian forces) during the English Civil War, who used it as a garrison. Following the French Revolution, the surviving members of the French Royal Family were allowed to use Lulworth as one of their residences-in-exile.
The castle was gutted by fire on 29 August 1929 and was left as a roofless ruin. Apparently, rats chewing through the insulation of the electrical wiring installation in an upper floor were the cause of the fire. Even though fire tenders from 3 separate fire departments attended the fire they were unable to work as a single team because their fire hose connections were all different!!
The whole inside of the castle was utterly destroyed, right down to the plaster on the walls as it was held in place on wooden ‘lathes’ (horizontal wooden strips) which burnt and crumbled…
In the 1970s, restoration work began with the help of English Heritage. The restoration, finished in 1998, included a new roof and restored surviving walls in the interior, but no new internal walls or replacements for the destroyed upper floors were constructed.
This view answers an observation made to me – on my last US visit from the UK.
“Why do English houses have long narrow windows?”
No wonder it’s so dark in the winter !
A big roaring fire – and an Inglenook Fireplace.
Central heating is fine. But you cant make toast !
This 17th Century example from Wiki
Yes GarryRF – hot crumpet is always a delight!! 🙂
Hot crumpet is what cold winter nights were made for !
And a Firkin of Scrumpy to tickle your buds.
Ah yes, a good firkin by the fire!! Delightful 🙂
I love English castles, and this is a beautiful one with a great story!
Thanks for sharing it, Mac!
GarryRF – my friend, quite right, it must have been terribly cold in those enormous high-ceiling rooms before central heating. A big roaring fire – great but all the heat goes straight up the chimney. So tall narrow windows give maximum light with minimum heat-loss.