Castle Upton
| Castle Upton | |
|
County Antrim | |
|---|---|
| |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | J228859 |
| History | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | private |
Castle Upton is a castle converted into a stately home, in the village of Templepatrick in County Antrim.
In Templepatrick, one side of the main street of the village consists of the demesne wall of Castle Upton. A fortified gateway in the wall at the centre of the village leads up to the castle. The core of the main house is a tower house with walls up to five feet thick, erected in 1611 by Sir Robert Norton and originally known as Castle Norton. The castle was bought in 1625 by Captain Henry Upton, who became Member of Parliament for Carrickfergus in 1634 and renamed the building. The stable block is a copy of Roman style fortifications.
In 1783, the Rt Hon Arthur Upton commissioned the leading neoclassical architect of the day, Robert Adam no less, to extend the house in the latest style and in 1789 to build a grand family mausoleum in the castle grounds. The mausoleum was built in the form of a triumphal arch, and here are buried several generations of the family, among the many Templetown viscounts and barons.
The house was bought by the Kinahan family in the 1960s.
The Templetown Mausoleum is owned the care of the National Trust and is open to visitors.