Castle Howard

If you take the A64 heading west from the coast and inland towards York, your eye will be drawn to the sight of acres of lush green parkland, and in the distance you will see the rooftops of Castle Howard.*

One of the grandest private residences in Britain, Castle Howard was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle. It is not a true castle as this term is often used to describe English country houses that were built after the castle-building era of c.1500. Building work began in 1699 but completion of the house took over a hundred years. 

The Turquoise Drawing, refurbished in 2002 in a turquoise damask specially designed and woven for Castle Howard, is filled with portraits by notable artists such as Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds.  

One of the two formal bedrooms on display to visitors, Lady Georgiana's bedroom and the lovely dressing room beside it, evoke the life and times of Lady Georgiana Howard. Lady Georgiana, the daughter of the 5th Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, married George Howard, later the 6th Earl of Carlisle, in 1801. In the 1830s these rooms were part of the Earl and Countess' private apartments.

The passage from Lady Georgiana's bedroom and dressing room leads to another dressing room and bedroom, this called simply The Castle Howard bedroom. Where Lady Georgiana's Bedroom is feminine in both furnishings, and feel, the Castle Howard bedroom is decidedly male. A deliciously ornate set of toiletries sits upon a sideboard, and the writing table is drawn up, as if the resident of this room was about to sit down and pen a missive. Queen Victoria is known to have slept in the bed that graces the dressing room, when she visited Castle Howard in 1850.

Ornamental water features are used to dramatic effect in the grounds and gardens at Castle Howard. It was the 3rd Earl who started work on creating the waterways which now dominate the landscape. The Walled Garden was laid out in the early 18th century as a kitchen garden. Today part of the garden is still given over to vegetables and cut flowers but the remainder of the area has been transformed into a garden of roses, dedicated to the memory of Lady Cecilia Howard.

Check out the links I have added below, and even if you cannot get to Yorkshire today, sit down with a cuppa, and read some more about wonderful Castle Howard!

Wendy







http://www.castlehoward.co.uk/

http://www.britainexpress.com/index.htm