Elvaston Castle
| Elvaston Castle | |
| Derbyshire | |
|---|---|
 Elvaston Castle | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SK40783301 |
| Location: | 52°53’34"N, 1°23’43"W |
| Village: | Elvaston |
| History | |
| Built 1815–1829 | |
| By: | James Wyatt, Robert Walker, Lewis Nockalls Cottingham |
| Country house | |
| Gothic Revival | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | Derbyshire County Council |
Elvaston Castle is a stately home in Elvaston in Derbyshire, which takes the form of a Gothic Revival castle. It and the surrounding parkland are owned and managed by the local council, the estate being run as a country park known as 'Elvaston Castle Country Park'. The country park has 200 acres of woodlands, parkland and formal gardens.
The house is a Grade II* listed building.[1] The gardens are Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[2]
Elvaston Castle was once the home of the Earls of Harrington. The house has latterly been neglected and is in need of restoration. It is not open to the public, and has been listed on the 'Heritage at Risk Register'.[3][4] In 2017 The Elvaston Castle and Gardens Trust was created to manage the estate once restoration works are completed.
History
Until the 16th century, the estate was held by the Shelford Priory. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the Crown sold the priory and its estates in 1538 to Sir Michael Stanhope of Rampton, Nottinghamshire.[5] Sir John Stanhope (died 1611) granted the estate to his second son, also Sir John Stanhope (d .1638) (who served as Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1629).
The manor house was built for the latter Sir John Stanhope in 1633. This Elizabethan-style house was redesigned and extended in a grand Gothic Revival style by James Wyatt in the early 19th century for the Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington.[6] Wyatt designed a new wing, a new great hall, and most of the interiors of the castle, but died before work was completed. His designs were carried out by Robert Walker between 1815 and 1829.
Further modifications were made in the 1836 by the architect Lewis Nockalls Cottingham; this work was on the Elizabethan-styled south front which was remodelled to match the rest of the now Gothic-styled castle.[6] This was the final modification and created the castle we see today.
During the Second World War, the house was turned into a teacher training college after the original college in Derby was evacuated. The college vacated the house in 1947, after which time it remained mostly empty for the next two decades until its sale, starting a steady decline that continues to this day.[6]
The Gardens
The 3rd Earl, approached Capability Brown to remodel the grounds of the Castle. He turned down the commission due to the flatness of the estate, which he described as having 'no capability'. In 1830, Charles Stanhope, 4th Earl of Harrington commissioned landscape gardener William Barron to redesign the gardens.[6]
The Fourth Earl caused scandal by marrying an actress 17 years his junior: Maria Foote. Maria and Charles were described as "inseparable and besotted"; the Earl wanted the gardens to be a "private and secluded oasis of great beauty" for himself and the love of his life. Barron would spend the next 20 years working on the gardens; he even brought in full-grown trees using a tree planting machine he had designed (an example of which is on display at Kew Gardens) to try to give instant gratification to the Earl.[6]
Charles and Maria, his Countess valued their garden for the romantic seclusion it afforded them, but following the death of their only son aged 4, the couple isolated themselves at the castle, never leaving and forbidding anyone from entering the grounds. (Some sources claim it was the Earl that instigated the seclusion and forbade his wife from leaving)[6]
Following the Fourth Earl's death in 1851, his brother, Leicester Stanhope, 5th Earl of Harrington, opened the gardens to the public. They became renowned as "a Gothic paradise", and are Grade II Listed.[6][2]
The estate contains over 50 structures, including stables, kennels, a walled garden, a home farm, several cottages, gatelodges, an ice house and a boathouse.
Country park
Following the Countryside Act 1968, the estate was sold in 1969 by William Stanhope, 11th Earl of Harrington to Derbyshire County Council.[7] The Act proposed the creation of "country parks", "for the enjoyment of the countryside by the public". The council opened the estate to the public in 1970 and have operated it since then, as Elvaston Castle Country Park.
Today
The deterioration of the castle and estate which started after the Second World War continued until the 1970s. Although restoration work was carried out and the gardens and park brought back into good heart, the operating costs were significant. With dwindling public funds available, and priorities elsewhere by 1990 the castle was considered unsafe and was closed to visitors. In 2000, the council estimated the country park’s running costs were £500,000 a year, and that they were facing a backlog of restoration work which would cost £3,000,000.
In 2006, the Council commissioned a report, which estimated the castle and estate required at least £6.1 million of work and materials in essential repairs. Whilst development partners were interested in the Castle, a combination of public opposition and difficulty creating a plan which would achieve a suitable balance of development and access meat that these plans fell through.
In 2013 The County Council asked The National Trust for help to create a future vision for the estate. This led, in 2015, to the County Council recruiting a Project Development Board to help it shape a future for the Estate as a charitable enterprise, further developing the Masterplan and exploring options for a sustainable future. This led to the formation of a totally independent board of Trustees in 2017 - The Elvaston Castle and Gardens Trust - and to the beginning of a new era for the estate.[8]
On fim
In 1969, Elvaston was also used as a location for Ken Russell's film adaptation of the D.H. Lawrence novel Women in Love.[9]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Elvaston Castle) |
- Elvaston Park
- Elvaston Castle (by Highgate Sanctuary)
- Elvaston Parish Council
- The Castle and the grounds - YouTube
References
- ↑ National Heritage List 1334604: Elvaston Castlr (Grade II* listing)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 National Heritage List 1000404: Elvaston Castle park (Register of Historic Parks and Gardens)
- ↑ Elvaston Castle Country Park
- ↑ [http://www.elvastoncastle.org.uk/castleintro.htm ElvastonCastle.org.uk
- ↑ "STANHOPE, Michael (by 1508-52), of Shelford, Notts., Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorks. and Beddington, Surr.". History of Parliament (Institute of Historical Research). http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/stanhope-michael-1508-52.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 The History of Elvaston Castle and Grounds
- ↑ Friends Of Elvaston Castle
- ↑ "The Future – Elvaston Castle & Gardens Trust" (in en-GB). https://www.futureelvaston.co.uk/the-future/.
- ↑ "Gothic Hall at Elvaston Castle - Derbyshire County Council". https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/countryside/countryside-sites/country-parks-and-visitor-centres/elvaston/facilities/gothic-hall/gothic-hall.aspx#:~:text=To%20this%20day%20the%20hall,based%20on%20D.H.%20Lawrence's%20novel..
- Magna Britannia, Volume 5 Derbyshire (1817) p. 142
