Eastnor Castle
Eastnor Castle is a 19th-century mock or revival castle, two miles from the town of Ledbury in Herefordshire, by the village of Eastnor. It was founded by John Cocks, 1st Earl Somers as his stately home and continues to be inhabited by his descendants. Currently in residence is the family of James Hervey-Bathurst, the grandson of Arthur Somers-Cocks, 6th Baron Somers. The castle is a Grade I listed building.
History
The estate was established in the late 16th century when the Cocks family purchased land in the area. Subsequent marriages into the Somers and Nash families helped provide the wealth and substance necessary to build the present imposing building, designed to look like one of the mediæval castles guarding the western marches.
The castle was built to the designs of Robert Smirke in 1812-20. A W N Pugin made some internal alterations - including the decoration of the Gothic Drawing Room - in 1849-50, and George E Fox made more changes in the 1860s. It is constructed of ashlar stonework, with a lead and slate roof concealed behind an embattled parapet. Cast-iron was used for the roof trusses and floor beams. [1] It was constructed at a cost of £85,000, the equivalent of approximately £26 to £28 million at 2007 prices.
The castle was criticised by Charles Locke Eastlake later in the 19th century:
It is a massive and gloomy-looking building, flanked by watch-towers, and enclosing a keep. To preserve the character at which it aimed, the windows were made exceedingly small and narrow. This must have resulted in much inconvenience within...The building in question might have made a tolerable fort before the invention of gunpowder, but as a residence it was a picturesque mistake.[2]
Recent uses
Within the grounds is the Land Rover vehicle test track. Each year in June the castle is host to the Landrover World Event and offers visitors the chance to try off-roading in the company's latest models.[3]
Eastnor Castle has provided the backdrop to a number of films, perhaps most notably 'One More Time' (1969) starring Jerry Lewis and Sammy Davis Jr. BBC television filmed some scenes for 'The Prince and the Pauper' starring Nicholas Lyndhurst in 1976. In 1984, both the band Slade and the BBC made use of the castle. Slade used it to film their video for "Run Runaway" and the BBC to film the exterior shots of Abner Brown's theological college in their adaptation of The Box of Delights.[4] The 1986 film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost was also shot here.[5]
During the summer of 2010 the American reality competition television programme, The Amazing Race, filmed a number of tasks of a mediæval theme at the castle for the first episode of season seventeen of the program including the first ‘pit stop’ of the race.[6]
Events
- The deer park at Eastnor is the venue for The Big Chill music festival.
- Mountain Mayhem - mountain bike festival
- Eastnor Castle plays host to the Firework Champions competition
References
- ↑ National Heritage List 1156712: Eastnor Castle
- ↑ Eastlake, Charles Locke (1872). A History of the Gothic Revival. London: Longmans, Green & Co. p. 70.
- ↑ Land Rover World annual event
- ↑ Box of Delights - locations on the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ The Canterville Ghost at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ The episode on CBS.com (retrieved 27 September 2010)
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Eastnor Castle) |
- Location map: 52°1’44"N, 2°23’14"W
- Eastnor Castle
- Photos of Eastnor at Flickr