Peckforton Castle

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Peckforton Castle from the courtyard

Peckforton Castle is a medieval castle- style country house built in a sparse wood about 1.5 km northwest of the village of Peckforton in the English county of Cheshire . English Heritage has listed it as a Grade I Historic Building. The house was built in the mid- 1800s as a family home for John Tollemache , a wealthy Cheshire landowner, real estate agent and member of Parliament. Anthony Salvin designed it in a neo-Gothic style . The Tollernache family lived here until 1939. During the Second World War , the house was used as a home for handicapped children.

The building has not been used as a family residence since 1939. In the 1970s and 1980s, it served as a backdrop for cinema and television films. In 1988 Evelyn Graybill bought the country house and had it converted into a hotel. In 2006 the Naylor family bought it . Weddings, conferences and other events have been held there since then.

Early history

View from the entrance gate to Peckforton Castle

John Tollemache, the greatest landowner in Cheshire at the time, whom William Ewart Gladstone called "the greatest real estate manager of his time", had Peckforton Castle built between 1844 and 1850. Great architect's first choice was George Latham from Nantwich , but he was eventually not hired, for which he received a compensation payment of £ 2000 (£ 180,000 in today's money). Instead, Tollemache hired Anthony Salvin , who had a better reputation and more experience and who had already carried out work on Tollemache's mansion at Helmingham Hall in Suffolk . The "castle" was built by Dean and Son from Leftwich with Joseph Cookson from Tarporley as construction supervision. The building blocks came from a quarry about 1.5 km west of the construction site and were transported to the construction site on a specially built narrow-gauge railway. The "Castle" cost £ 60,000 to build (£ 5.7m in today's money)

Although Peckforton Castle was intended to be a family seat, its design resembled that of a medieval castle. It has a gatehouse , portcullis , dry moat , exterior windows that are little larger than loopholes , and large towers. In 1851, The Illustrated London News wrote that this appears to show "the particular charms of Carnarvon Castle, without its inconveniences" and in 1858 Sir George Gilbert Scott called it "the largest and most carefully and professionally executed Gothic mansion of our time" and "The highest degree of masquerade". It is considered "the last seriously fortified home in England" and it is said that "it was built to the highest standards and is one of the greatest structures of its time".

The motives for building a more or less complete castle in medieval style in the 19th century were discussed. While he was a great real estate manager, Tollemache was also seen as "a man of considerable eccentricity." '' Dr. Jill Allibone '' believes he may have wanted to protect himself and his family from the political turmoil of the time. In a building that was easy to defend, he would have been able to protect himself against any revolution by the mob from the nearby cities of Manchester or Liverpool . One possible practical reason for building such a heavily fortified homestead in lieu of an Italianate-style mansion was to provide protection from the adverse weather conditions that could set in on the Cheshire Plain. But Durdey concludes that the key factor behind this was his "great legacy" to protect himself with a home that was "formidable, domineering, and fitting for Cheshire's greatest landowner."

location

Peckforton Castle stands in a sparse forest at the north end of the Peckforton Hills at an altitude of 143 meters. The terrain drops steeply to the north and west and the Sandstone Trail , a long-distance hiking trail, runs along these slopes. The ruins of Beeston Castle stand on another steep hill about 1.2 km north of Peckforton Castle. The village of Beeston is approximately 1.2 km northeast of the property and the village of Peckforton is 1.6 km southeast of it. The entrance to the property branches off the local road connecting Beeston and Peckforton.

architecture

Peckforton Castle is in the right foreground and Beeston Castle on the hill behind.

Castle

Exterior

The castle is clad in red sandstone and has roofs made of lead, asphalt and shingles. The building is mostly three-story; the tower is five stories high. The buildings are arranged around a castle courtyard; the main residential area is on the north side. The ensemble is surrounded by a dry moat, which is spanned by a bridge at the gatehouse. To the west of the inner courtyard are the stables, the coach house, a rectangular bell tower, the kitchens and the rooms for the servants. In the north is the wing of the knight's hall , which is 18 bays wide. The round main tower is located behind the entrance to the knight's hall. The octagonal library tower can be found at the east end of the gallery wing. The outer walls of the castle are provided with slim tourelles at every corner at their full height . Console panels support parts of the battlements . There are loopholes in the walls and the gatehouse has a lavatory . The flat roof is equipped with a crenellated parapet.

inside rooms

The vestibule leads to the great hall, which has a Minton- tile floor and a large stone mantelpiece. In the east wing there is the long gallery with oak paneling on the wall and ceiling and another mantelpiece. Behind the long gallery are an irregularly shaped billiard room and a salon. The library is to the south of it. The main staircase is behind the knight's hall. The circular tower on the northwest corner contains the octagonal dining room with a Minton tile floor, two open fireplaces and an eight-rib vault that leads to a central boss . The room contains an oak sideboard with a carved Green Man . The wine cellar is located under the dining room. On the fifth floor of the round tower there is a room that was intended for playing racquets and is accessible via a stone spiral staircase.

Gardens

The castle does not have a formal garden, but at the lower end of the driveway there were kitchen gardens with a vegetable garden, fruit groves, extensive greenhouses and a large orangery . At one point 17 gardeners were employed there.

chapel

On the east side of the castle courtyard is the family's private chapel, a historic building II *. Grade listed building. It was also planned by Salvin, is made of sandstone clad with rock and has a shingled roof. It consists of the main nave with two bays, a south wing, a sacristy and a narrower, lower choir with a yoke. There are roof crosses at the gable ends of the main nave and choir. A cruciform bell tower sits above the arch of the choir. Inside the chapel, an arcade of three pointed arches divides the south wing from the main nave. The altarpiece is made of oak and the Our Father and the Ten Commandments are carved. The choir and church stalls are decorated with carved heads. The baptistery at the west end contains a stone baptismal font with a lid made of carved oak. Even if the chapel is considered a “modest building”, it “completes the ensemble” of the castle.

Entrance box

The entrance box south-east of the castle was also used as a historical building II *. Grade listed. It was also designed by Salvin and is made of red bricks and stones. Your roof is shingled. It consists of a doorway with a round tourelle behind it and a two-story box to the left of it.

Later history and current use

A formal space decorated for a wedding reception

Before Wilbraham Tollemache, 2nd Baron Tollemache , moved into the "castle", he had central heating and electrical lighting installed. In 1922 a large reforestation campaign began in the Peckforton Hills and the resulting open forest was given the status of a Site of Special Scientific Interest . Bentley Tollemache, 3rd Baron Tollemache , grandson of Wilbraham Tollemache, and his family left Peckforton Castle at the outbreak of World War II in 1939. During the war, the "Castle" served as a home for physically handicapped children who had been evacuated from greater London. Bentley Tollemache died in 1955 and, since he had no son, the property fell to his cousin, John Tollemache . In the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, the castle served as a backdrop for cinema and television films, e. B. The Time Warrior from Doctor Who , broadcast 1973–1974, and the 1991 film Robin Hood - A Life for Richard the Lionheart, with Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman in the lead roles. From 1982 to 1986, Treasure Trap , one of the world's first life-action role-playing games , was held on the premises. In 1988 an American, Evelyn Graybill , bought Peckforton Castle for £ 1 million. She had most of the buildings renovated and was given planning permission to convert it into a hotel. In 2006, Chris Naylor married at the hotel, and he and his family subsequently bought the property. Peckforton Castle now serves as a luxury hotel and venue for weddings and corporate parties. In June 2011 the building was badly damaged by a fire during a wedding reception, causing damage of around £ 6m. In December 2011, the groom pleaded guilty to the arson.

Individual references and comments

  1. ↑ a b c d Peckforton Castle . Historic England. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  2. ↑ a b Ronald Durdey: John Tollemache and his Castle in Cheshire History . Issue 47 (2007). ISSN  0141-8696 . P. 77.
  3. ^ A b The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series) . Measuring Worth. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  4. ↑ Ronald Durdey: John Tollemache and his Castle in Cheshire History . Issue 47 (2007). ISSN  0141-8696 . Pp. 81-82.
  5. ↑ Ronald Durdey: John Tollemache and his Castle in Cheshire History . Issue 47 (2007). ISSN  0141-8696 . P. 83.
  6. ^ A b Clare Hartwell, Matthew Hyde, Edward Hubbard, Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England . Chapter: Cheshire . Yale University Press, New Haven and London 1971 (2011). ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6 . Pp. 524-527.
  7. ↑ a b Ronald Durdey: John Tollemache and his Castle in Cheshire History . Issue 47 (2007). ISSN  0141-8696 . P. 75.
  8. ↑ Ronald Durdey: John Tollemache and his Castle in Cheshire History . Issue 47 (2007). ISSN  0141-8696 . P. 76.
  9. ↑ Allibone expressed this opinion in his doctoral thesis on Anthony Salvin, which was published in London in 1977.
  10. ↑ Ronald Durdey: John Tollemache and his Castle in Cheshire History . Issue 47 (2007). ISSN  0141-8696 . Pp. 76-77.
  11. ^ Crewe & Nantwich, Whitchurch & Tattenhall: Explorer 257 map , Ordnance Survey.
  12. ^ Peckforton Castle . Peckforton Hills Local Heritage. Archived from the original on July 18, 2006. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  13. ↑ Chapel in the Ward of Peckforton Castle . Historic England. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  14. ^ Entrance Lodge South East of Peckforton Castle . Historic England. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  15. ↑ a b Ronald Durdey: John Tollemache and his Castle in Cheshire History . Issue 47 (2007). ISSN  0141-8696 . P. 86.
  16. ^ Citation . English Nature. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  17. ↑ a b Helen Bate: Kings of the Castle in The Sandstone News . Issue 8. Sandstone News.
  18. ^ The Time Warrior . Doctor Who Locations Guide. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  19. ↑ Robin Hood - a life for Richard the Lionheart . Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  20. ↑ Tony Barrell: The land of make believe . Times. October 26, 2003. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  21. ↑ Welcome to Peckforton Castle . Peckforton Castle. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  22. ^ Peckforton Castle fire: Bridegroom admits £ 6m arson . BBC. December 2, 2011. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  23. ↑ Liz Hull: Bridegroom started £ 6million blaze at historic hotel on his wedding night after rowing with owners over money . Associated Newspapers. Retrieved September 9, 2015.

literature

  • Jill Allibone: Anthony Salvin: Pioneer of Gothic Revival Architecture . Lutterworth Press, Cambridge 1988. ISBN 978-0-7188-2707-6 .

Web links

Commons : Peckforton Castle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 53 ° 7 ′ 3 "  N , 2 ° 41 ′ 56.4"  W.