Watermouth Castle
| Watermouth Castle | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 Watermouth Castle | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SS55574804 |
| Location: | 51°12’48"N, 4°4’9"W |
| Village: | Watermouth |
| History | |
| Built 1825 | |
| For: | Joseph Davie Bassett by George Wightwick |
| Country house | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Converted to tourist attraction |
Watermouth Castle is a late Georgian mock-castle in Watermouth, near Ilfracombe, on the north coast of Devon. It was built as a country house residence for Joseph Davie Bassett, to the design of George Wightwick, replacing a Georgian country house which formally stood here. It is not a true castle but a country house built to resemble one, and today it functions as a tourist attraction.
The castle is a Grade II* listed building.[1][2]
The castle stands near the shore of the inlet of Watermouth. It houses a collection of Victorian antiques centred on domestic tools and amusement machines, a family theme park and holiday apartments.[3] The Bassetts left the castle in 1945.
History
Before the house of today, there was a country house in the Palladian style at Watermouth, built by Hugh Fortescue, 1st Earl of Clinton (1696–1751). The writer the Rev. John Swete visited Watermouth on his travels in 1796, and was entertained by the then owner, John Davie of Orleigh Court, Buckland Brewer. Swete painted the house then standing on the site and recorded the visit in his journal.[4]
John Davie was married to Eleanora Bassett, the heiress of the Bassett estates and when their son Joseph came into the latter inheritance he adopted the surname 'Bassett'. In 1825, Joseph Davie Bassett built Watermouth Castle as it is seen today. He had sold his father's seat, Orleigh, in 1807 and Watermouth Castle became his principal residence.[5]
In 1908, the castle was inherited by Edith Bassett Bassett (1862–1943) (born Edith Basset Williams). During the First World War, she started to sell off the ancient Basset lands. Watermouth Castle had been used as a military hospital during First World War, and in the 1920s she started to sell the Berrynarbor farms and cottages. In 1942 she sold most of the contents of Watermouth Castle.[6]
The castle then passed through the hands of many short-term owners and property speculators but was at last purchased by Keith Wickenden, a businessman and member of Parliament. In 1977 it was bought by Richard L. Haines of Market Deeping, Lincolnshire and the castle was turned into an amusement centre.
Current use
The castle is a tourist attraction open to the public by admission charge. Within the Castle, areas include Castle Treasure, Dungeon Labyrinths and The Watershow Extravaganza. Its grounds feature nine rides spread across themed areas known as Adventure Land, Merry Go Land and Gnome Land.
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Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Watermouth Castle) |
References
- ↑ National Heritage List 1168686: Watermouth Castle, including front - retaining wall and rear courtyard
- ↑ National Heritage List 97006: Watermouth Castle
- ↑ "Picture". http://www.watermouthcastle.com/ha/holiday_home.htm.
- ↑ Journals of the Reverend John Swete (vol. 3) (published in Travels in Georgian Devon: The Illustrated Journals of Reverend John Swete, 1789-1800, ed. Todd Gray & Margery Rowe, 1999) , page 86–8 ISBN 978-1855226845
- ↑ Rogers, W.H. Buckland Brewer, 1938, pp. 52–3
- ↑ http://www.devonheritage.org/Places/Berrynarbor/WatermouthCastle.htm