Belvoir Castle
Belvoir Castle | |
---|---|
Gothic Revival | |
Location | Northeast Leicestershire |
Country | England |
Coordinates | 52°53′40.2″N 0°46′57.22″W / 52.894500°N 0.7825611°W |
Elevation | 138 metres (453 ft) |
Groundbreaking | 1067 |
Renovated | 1801–1832 |
Owner | David Manners, 11th Duke of Rutland |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | James Wyatt |
Designations | |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
Designated | 14 July 1953 |
Reference no. | 1360870 |
Website | |
https://www.belvoircastle.com/ |
Belvoir Castle (
The castle is situated at the extreme northern corner of the county of Leicestershire and is sandwiched between
The 15,000 acre (6,000 hectare)
Name
The castle's name Belvoir means beautiful view in
History
Norman fortification
A
Belvoir was a royal manor until it was granted to Robert de Ros in 1257. He was given a
Tudor manor
By 1464, the Norman castle was recorded to be ruins. In 1528, Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland started construction of a large Tudor manor house. It was completed in 1555.[12][13] Much of the stone for this building came from Croxton Abbey and Belvoir Priory following their dissolution.[12]: 22
Two local carpenters refurbished the billiard table in 1602 and a new baize cloth was bought from a merchant in Grantham.[14] James VI and I, Prince Henry and the Venetian ambassador Antonio Foscarini stayed in August 1612.[15] In the early 17th century, servants Joan, Margaret and Phillipa Flower were accused of murdering the 6th Earl's two young sons by witchcraft. Joan died while in prison and Margaret and Phillipa were hanged.[16]
During the English Civil War, it was one of the more notable strongholds of the king's supporters and King Charles spent a night here on his way into Lincolnshire.[12]: 30
Country house
In 1649, the Tudor building was razed by Parliamentarians because of the family's support for the Royalists. But six years later, construction on a large family home - designed by the architect John Webb - was started in 1654.[12]: 8 Work was completed by 1668[12]: 32 and cost £11,730 (£2.14 million today).
The 9th Earl was created Duke of Rutland in 1703. Belvoir Castle has been the home of the Manners family for five hundred years and seat of the Dukes of Rutland for over three centuries.
Georgian revival
In 1799, the
Rebuilt, again, to largely the same designs, at a cost of an additional £82,000 (£8.11 million today), the castle was largely completed by 1832. The architect Sir James Thornton[12]: 50 (who was the Duke's friend and chaplain and Vicar of nearby Bottesford[18]) was chiefly responsible for this rebuilding, and the result bears a superficial resemblance to a medieval castle, its central tower reminiscent of Windsor Castle.
Whilst visiting Belvoir castle in the 1840s, Anna, Duchess of Bedford, found that the normal time for dinner was between 7:00 and 8:30 p.m. An extra meal called luncheon had been created to fill the midday gap between breakfast and dinner, but as this new meal was very light, the long afternoon with no refreshment at all left people feeling hungry. She found a light meal of tea (usually Darjeeling) and cakes or sandwiches was the perfect balance. The Duchess found taking an afternoon snack to be such a perfect refreshment that she soon began inviting her friends to join her. Afternoon tea quickly became an established and convivial repast in many middle and upper class households.[19]
The castle is open to the public and contains many works of art. The highlights of the tour are the lavish state rooms, the most famous being the Elizabeth Saloon (named after the wife of the 5th Duke), the Regents Gallery and the Roman-inspired State Dining Room.
The
Estate
The castle sits in an estate of almost 15,000 acres (61 km2).[6]
Gardens
Belvoir Gardens were designed and landscaped by Elizabeth Howard, 5th Duchess of Rutland, who was married to
Belvoir Gardens were also the first site of mass spring flower bedding, a concept developed by Mr Divers, head gardener of the gardens at the time.
The once thriving gardens are now slowly being restored to their former glory. "Friends of Belvoir Gardens" is a programme which encourages enthusiasts with green fingers to volunteer to help manage the beautifully preserved gardens.
Mausoleum
The traditional burial place of the Manners family was
Burials
The following members of the Manners family are buried in the mausoleum:
- John Manners, 1st Duke of Rutland
- John Manners, 2nd Duke of Rutland
- John Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland
- Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland
- John Manners, 5th Duke of Rutland
- Marion Margaret Violet Lindsay Manners, Duchess of Rutland
- Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, son-in-law of the 8th Duke
- Diana Cooper, Viscountess Norwich
- Charles Manners, 10th Duke of Rutland
In literature
- Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem Belvoir Castle.—Seat of the Duke of Rutland. is inscribed to Lady Emmeline Stuart-Wortley, daughter of John Manners, 5th Duke of Rutland. The poem illustrates a painting by Thomas Allom.[20]
- In 2012, Catherine Bailey published a history of Belvoir Castle chronicling a mystery surrounding one of its occupants, John Manners, the 9th Duke of Rutland, which she encountered and worked to unravel while researching in the estate's archives.[21]
Present use
A portion of the castle is still used as the family home of the Manners family. Several films and television programmes have used it as a location including Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980), The Da Vinci Code, Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), The Young Victoria (2007), Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story (2001), the 1999 version of The Haunting, King Ralph (1991),[22] The Crown,[23] and an episode of Rosie and Jim (1999).
The grounds are used by the Belvoir Cricket Club
See also
- Belvoir disambiguation page
- List of castles in Leicestershire
- Treasure Houses of Britain, 1985 TV documentary that is, in part, on Belvoir Castle
References
- ^ "Belvoir Castle". Collins Dictionary. n.d. Archived from the original on 6 May 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
- ^ Historic England. "Belvoir Castle (1360870)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
- ^ Based on position of Oakham, county town of Rutland
- ^ grid reference SK820337
- ^ Quoted in Cantor 1977–1978 p. 35.
- ^ a b "The Manners Arms". The Manners Arms. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ^ "The Belvoir Hunt - Home page". www.belvoir-hunt.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 July 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
- ^ a b "Belvoir Castle". Phil Spencer’s Stately Homes. Season 2. Episode 2. Mayfly Television Limited. 20 August 2018. BBC.
- ^ "Open Domesday Map: Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
- ^ "Map of Framland showing Belvoir geography". Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
- ^ Cantor, Leonard (1977–1978), "The Medieval Castles of Leicestershire" (PDF), Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society, 53, archived (PDF) from the original on 14 December 2019, retrieved 9 April 2011
- ^ ISBN 9780711230521.
- ISBN 0-14-071018-3.
- ^ HMC Duke of Rutland, vol. 4 (London, 1905), p. 441
- ^ Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers Venice, vol. 12 (London, 1912), pp. 410-11 no. 612.
- ^ "BBC News – Witches of Belvoir 'may have been framed'". BBC. 31 October 2013. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
- ^ "Fire at Belvoir Castle". Morning Post. British Newspaper Archive. 29 October 1816. Retrieved 29 July 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ISBN 0-14-071018-3. (with corrections of 1992).
- ^ p. 209, Pool, Daniel (1993) "What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew," Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, New York
- ^ Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1836). "picture". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837. Fisher, Son & Co. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1836). "poetical illustration". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837. Fisher, Son & Co. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
- TheGuardian.com. 16 November 2012. Archivedfrom the original on 25 November 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
- ^ "Where was King Ralph filmed?". British Film Locations. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
- ^ "Netflix crews filming season two of The Crown at Belvoir Castle". Lincolnshire Reporter. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ "Belvoir Cricket Club, Knipton". Belvoircc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 July 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ^ Shooting Politics. "Shooting Politics, episode 1, 19th August 2009". fieldsportschannel.tv. Archived from the original on 8 July 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
- ^ "Leicester writer made poet-in-residence of Belvoir Castle, Leicester Mercury". Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
- ^ "Designated Sites View: Briery Wood Heronry, Belvoir". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- ^ "Mistaken identity for Algerian hackers". 1 September 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2010.[dead link]
External links
- Official website
- Belvoir Castle view video retrieved 18 December 2010
- Map sources for Belvoir Castle