Lulworth Castle

Coordinates: 50°38′15″N 2°12′38″W / 50.63750°N 2.21056°W / 50.63750; -2.21056
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Lulworth Castle
Lulworth Castle after restoration
TypeHouse/castle
LocationDorset, England
AreaPurbeck District
Built1588–1609
Built forThomas Howard, 3rd Viscount Howard of Bindon
Architectattributed to Inigo Jones
Architectural style(s)Elizabethan-Jacobean, Adam style interior
Governing bodyFamily owned
Listed Building – Grade I
Official nameLulworth Castle
Designated30 November 1959
Reference no.1323323
Lulworth Castle is located in Dorset
Lulworth Castle
Location of Lulworth Castle in Dorset
Official nameLulworth Castle
Designated26 October 1954
Reference no.1016069

Lulworth Castle, in

Grade II listed with Historic England.[4]

History

The foundations for Lulworth Castle were laid in 1588, and it was completed in 1609, supposedly designed by Inigo Jones.[5] It was built as a hunting lodge by Thomas Howard, 3rd Viscount Howard of Bindon, a grandson of the 3rd Duke of Norfolk. In 1607 Viscount Bindon wrote to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, crediting him with the origins of the design:

"If this little pile in Lulworth Park shall prove pretty or worth the labour bestowed in the erecting of it, I will acknowledge, as the truth is, that your powerful speech to me at Bindon laid the first foundation of the pile in my mind, which ever since has laboured for a speedy finishing for the contentment of those for whose further liking of that place the care is taken".[6]

According to the

mock castles', such as the Elizabethan castellated house par excellence that is Longford Castle" which probably inspired Bindon.[7]

Humphrey Weld (died 1610), purchased it from Howard's heir, Lord Howard de Walden. The castle was seized by the Roundheads during the English Civil War, who used it as a garrison. Weld regained the property after the war finished and held on to it despite growing debts. Having married off his only daughter to an earl, Humphrey chose his catholic nephew, William Weld as his successor. William struggled with near insolvency, but partially rescued the estate finances by ensuring his son, Humphrey III (died 1722), married well into the Simeons family. Margaret Simeons and her parents helped out with a dowry and managed the estate after she was widowed. Humphrey was succeeded by their son, Edward Weld (Senior)
who had the means to decorate the interiors of the castle, build extensions and lay out the grounds, despite personal legal difficulties he managed to overcome.

George III
at Lulworth. Thomas and his wife Mary produced fifteen children, most of whom survived, and together with their descendants were able to retain Lulworth as the family seat into the 21st century.

Following the

French royal family were invited to use Lulworth as one of their residences-in-exile. Later Charles X of France and family also stayed there briefly, following the July Revolution of 1830 on their way to Edinburgh.[9]

St Mary's Chapel, Lulworth

RC
Chapel of St Mary, built to look like a house

Thomas Weld built a

Greek mausoleum at a cost of £2,380.[7] The building has been Grade I listed.[10]

On 15 August 1790

Vicar Apostolic of the Northern District.[12] After his sudden death in Stonyhurst in 1810, Thomas Weld was buried in the Lulworth chapel crypt.[13]

Restoration

Entrance to the castle.
C of E
Church at left

The castle was gutted by fire on 29 August 1929[14] and was left as a roofless ruin, the family building a new residence for themselves nearby. 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.

In 1986 the Baltimore-born organ builder William Drake restored the 1780 Seede organ at the Roman Catholic Chapel at Lulworth Castle, a project that attracted attention internationally.[15]

The castle is still owned by the Weld family[16] and is a tourist attraction, holding medieval-themed events. Part of the Lulworth Estate is in use as an MoD firing range as well as a wildlife conservation area.

Since 2017, the site has been used as the location for the Bestival music festival, with the castle's foreground being the location for the main "Castle" stage.

References

  1. ^ Historic England (26 October 1954). "post medieval hunting lodge (1016069)". National Heritage List for England.
  2. ^ Historic England. "Name: Lulworth Castle (1323323)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  3. ^ "About the Estate". Lulworth, Dorset Estate. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  4. ^ Historic England. "Park and gardens Name: Lulworth Castle (1000720)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  5. ^ Hutchins, John (1861). The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. Vol. 1. Westminster: John Bowyer Nichols and Sons. p. 374.
  6. ^ HMC 9 Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 20 (London, 1968), p. 204.
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-0-3000-9598-2
    .
  8. ^ Akira, Hirano (2013). "Treasures of the Library". The Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Art and Culture - University of East Anglia. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  9. ISBN 978-0-7475-8159-8
    .
  10. ^ Historic England (20 November 1959). "Roman Catholic Chapel of St Mary, Lulworth Park (1323322)". National Heritage List for England.
  11. ^ The American Catholic quarterly review, Volume 14 Lulworth Chapel, Bishop Carroll and Bishop Walmesley
  12. ^ Ward, Bernard. Catholic London a Century Ago, Catholic Truth Society, 1905, p. 62
  13. ^ "Thomas Weld". Find a Grave Memorial. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  14. Bournemouth Echo
    . 31 August 2009.
  15. ^ "The National Pipe Organ Register - NPOR". npor.org.uk. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  16. ^ "James Weld: keeping it local". Dorset Magazine. 27 April 2009.

Bibliography

  • C. M. Antony. "Lulworth Castle: Its History and Memories." The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Oct., 1915), pp. 243-257
  • Berkeley, J. Lulworth and the Welds. Gillingham: Blackmore, 1971.
  • Manco, Jean, Greenhalf, David and Girouard, Mark. "Lulworth Castle in the Seventeenth Century". Architectural History, Vol. 33, (1990), pp. 29–59.
  • Manco, Jean and Kelly, Francis. "Lulworth Castle from 1700." Architectural History, Vol. 34, (1991), pp. 145-170
  • The Weld family & Lulworth. Wareham: Lulworth Castle. 2004.
  • Newth, John. "One of Dorset’s grandest and most interesting country houses - The history of Lulworth Castle is bound up with the stories of the Weld family and of one of the most important estates in South Dorset. John Newth has been to visit.". Dorset Life, April 2015. Wiew on line: [1]

Gallery

  • Lulworth Castle in the park
    Lulworth Castle in the park
  • Lulworth Castle, Triangular Lodges
    Lulworth Castle, Triangular Lodges
  • Lulworth Castle stables (1932)
    Lulworth Castle stables (1932)
  • Roof from interior
    Roof from interior
  • Castle Interior
    Castle Interior
  • Castle kitchen
    Castle kitchen
  • Castle vaulted cellar
    Castle vaulted cellar

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lulworth Castle.

50°38′15″N 2°12′38″W / 50.63750°N 2.21056°W / 50.63750; -2.21056

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