Gosford Castle

Gosford Castle, front view.

Gosford Castle ( Irish Caisleán Gosford ) is a castle in the village of Markethill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland . Construction of the palace began in 1819 and was completed in the 1850s. The client was Archibald Acheson, 2nd Earl of Gosford , and its architect was Thomas Hopper , one of the leading London architects in the first half of the 19th century. Gosford Castle is the largest historic building to be listed as Grade A.

The Department of Agriculture bought the property in 1958 and created Gosford Forest Park there . In January 2006, a building company, the Boyd Partnership , bought the crumbling castle and converted it into private apartments. In January 2008 the first new owners moved into their apartments. The cost of the restoration was around £ 4 million and the nature of the renovation was determined by a commission appointed by the government.

architecture

Gosford Castle was built in the neo-Norman style, one of the few buildings in the world in this architectural style. Robin Fredden , Secretary General of the National Trust , described it in 1952 as "one of the best preserved original buildings from the first half of the 19th century" and noted that it was "proven to be the largest building in Ireland" because there were more than 150 Rooms. Thomas Hopper, the architect, also designed Penrhyn Castle in Wales in a similar style.

history

The 4th Earl of Gosford was forced to sell the contents of his castle in 1921 and during World War II Gosford Castle was requisitioned and served as a prisoner of war camp . After the war, the Gosfords sold the property and the Forestry Commission later bought it . For a while the building served as a hotel, barracks and restaurant. It was also used by the British Army during the Northern Ireland conflict . There is also a crypt in one corner of the castle that was recently sealed.

jamboree

The Irish Scout Jamboree was held in the park in 1989 . Over 3000 scouts from all over the world took part in “Gosford '89”, including contingents from Canada , Japan and the USA . The camp leader was Wilson Lambe and his co-coordinator Mark Lemour . There were six sub-camps and one sub-camp for staff.

restoration

Government agencies took over the castle again in February 2002. At that time it was in a very bad condition and without prompt action there was a risk of total loss. After lengthy negotiations, a local development company with special architects and the Northern Ireland Heritage Service submitted a renovation proposal in 2006. It was agreed to convert Gosford Castle into 23 apartments. The castle was sold to Gosford Castle Developments in January 2006 for the symbolic price of £ 1000 ; the estimated restoration cost was £ 4m by the end of 2013 the actual restoration cost had risen to over £ 7m.

Since many parts of the building are vertically separated from each other, the castle was divided into vertically separated apartments. For this purpose, a team of artists and craftsmen were commissioned to build separate apartments with two, three or four floors in the original walls of the castle. In this way the historical integrity of the castle was preserved and existing stairwells and walls were used wherever possible. Care was also taken to maintain the original color scheme in the main rooms, such as B. the gold-decorated vaulted ceiling in the inner hall. Walls have been painted green to show drapery and a scarlet background has been used to imitate the library's wooden bookcases. In January 2008 the first residents moved into the completed apartments in the courtyard of the palace.