Grimsthorpe Castle is a country house in Lincolnshire, England four miles north-west of Bourne on the A151. The English country house is generally accepted as a large House or Mansion, once in the ownership of an individual who also usually owned another Great Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs) is a county in the east of England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Bourne is a Market town on the western edge of the Fens, in southern Lincolnshire, England. The A151 road is relatively minor part of the British road system It lies within a 3,000 acre (12 km²) park of rolling pastures, lakes, and woodland landscaped by Capability Brown. While Grimsthorpe is not a castle in the strict sense of the word, its character is massive and martial – the towers and outlying pavilions recalling the bastions of a great fortress in classical dress. Grimsthorpe has been the home of the de Eresby family since 1516. The present owner is Jane 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby, granddaughter of Lady Nancy Astor, who died at Grimsthorpe in 1964. The Barony of Willoughby de Eresby (pronounced "Willuhby Deersby" is a barony by writ in the Peerage of England, dating to 1313 Nancy Witcher Astor Viscountess Astor, CH, ( May 19, 1879 &ndash May 2, 1964) was the first woman to serve as a Member of Parliament
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Origins
The building was originally a small castle on the crest of a ridge on the road inland from the Lincolnshire fen edge towards the Great North Road. The Fens, also known as the Fenland, is a geographic area in eastern England, in the United Kingdom. It is said to have been begun by Gilbert de Gant, Earl of Lincoln in the early 13th century. Gilbert de Gant Earl of Lincoln (c 1126 – 1156 was the son of Walter de Gant and Maud of Brittany. However, he was the first and last in this creation of the Earldom of Lincoln and he died in 1156. Gilbert's heyday was the peak time of castle building in England, during the Anarchy. The Anarchy or The Nineteen Year Winter refers to a period of English history during the reign ( 1135 &ndash 1154) of the Norman King It is quite possible that the castle was built around 1140. However, the tower at the south-east corner of the present building is usually said to have been part of the original castle and it is known as King John's Tower. John (24 December 1167 &ndash 19 October 1216 reigned as a King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death The naming of King John's tower seems to have led to a misattribution of the castle's origin to his time.
Gilbert de Gant spent much of his life in the power of the Earl of Chester and Grimsthorpe is likely to have fallen into his hands in 1156 when Gilbert died, though the title 'Earl of Lincoln' reverted to the crown. In the next creation of the earldom, in 1217, it was Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester (1172-1232) who was ennobled with it. It seems that the title, if not the property was in the hands of King John during his reign; hence perhaps, the name of the tower.
During the last years of the Plantagenet kings of England, it was in the hands of Lord Lovell. The House of Plantagenet (planˈtadʒɪnɪt also called the House of Anjou, or the First Angevin dynasty, was originally a noble Francis Lovell Viscount Lovel (1454 &ndash 1487(? a supporter of Richard III and son of John 8th Baron Lovell, probably knew Richard from a young age and was However, he was a prominent supporter of the king whom the first of the Tudor dynasty caused to be killed. The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was an English royal Dynasty that lasted 118 years from 1485 to 1603 a period known as the Tudor period Therefore, when Lovell supported an attempt to restore the earlier dynasty, his property was taken into Tudor hands and in time, given to a member of a family which had supported Henry Tudor's invasion of England in 1485.
The Tudor period
This grant by Henry VIII, Henry Tudor's son, to the 10th Baron Willoughby de Eresby was made in 1516, together with the hand in marriage of Maria de Salinas, kinswoman and lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon. Henry VIII (28 June 1491 &ndash 28 January 1547 was King of England and Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of The Barony of Willoughby de Eresby (pronounced "Willuhby Deersby" is a barony by writ in the Peerage of England, dating to 1313 Maria de Salinas Lady Willoughby (ca 1490 - 1539 was a Noblewoman from Spain who became a Lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine of Aragon. Catherine of Aragon (16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536 also known as Catharine, Katherine or Katharine ( Castilian Infanta Catalina Their daughter Katherine inherited the title and estate on the death of her father in 1526, when she was aged just seven. Catherine Willoughby Duchess of Suffolk, suo jure 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby ( 22 March 1519 - 19 September 1580 In 1533, she became the fourth wife of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, a close ally of Henry the VIII. Charles Brandon 1st Duke of Suffolk (c 1484 &ndash 22 August 1545) was the son of Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn In 1539, Henry VIII granted Charles Brandon the lands of the nearby suppressed Vaudey Abbey, founded 1147, and he used its stone as building material for his new house. Vaudey Abbey was an English Cistercian abbey It was founded in 1147 by William Count of Aumale, Earl of York. Brandon set about extending and rebuilding his wife's house, and in only eighteen months it was ready in time for a visit by King Henry, on his way to York in 1541 to meet with his cousin, James V of Scotland. York ( is an historic Walled city sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. James V (10 April 1512 &ndash 14 December 1542 was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death It stands on glacial till and it seems, the additions were hastily constructed. Till is unsorted glacial sediment Glacial drift is a general term for the coarsely graded and extremely heterogeneous Sediments of glacial origin Substantial repairs were required later owing to the poor state of the foundations, but much of this Tudor house can still be seen today.
The castle's owners, Katherine Willoughby and her second husband, Richard Bertie, were forced to leave it during the reign of Mary's reign owing to their Anglican views. Richard Bertie may refer to Richard Bertie (courtier, husband of Katherine Willoughby duchess of Suffolk and ancestor of Princess Diana Richard Mary I (18 February 1516 &ndash 17 November 1558 was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death See also Anglicanism The Anglican Communion is an international association of national Anglican churches On Elizabeth's succeeding to the throne, they returned with their new son Peregrine. Peregrine Bertie 13th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (1555 - 1601 was the son of Richard Bertie and Katherine Willoughby 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby. He became a soldier and spent much time absent from Grimsthorpe.
The Vanbrugh building
By 1707, when Grimsthorpe was illustrated in Britannia Illustrata, the 15th Baron Willoughby de Eresby and 3rd Earl Lindsey had rebuilt the north front of Grimsthorpe in the classical style. Montagu Bertie 2nd Earl of Lindsey, KG, PC (1608 – 25 July 1666) was the eldest son of Robert Bertie 1st Earl of Lindsey and his However, in 1715, Robert Bertie, the 16th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, employed Sir John Vanbrugh to design a baroque front to the house to celebrate his ennoblement as the first Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven. Robert Bertie 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, PC ( October 20, 1660 &ndash July 26, 1723) was a British statesman and nobleman Sir John Vanbrugh (pronounced "Van'-bru" (24 January 1664? – 26 March 1726 was an English Architect and Dramatist, perhaps best known Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc Earl of Lindsey is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1626 for Robert Bertie 14th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (see the Baron Willoughby de Eresby It is Vanbrugh's last masterpiece. He also prepared designs for the reconstruction of the other three ranges of the house, but they were not carried out. His proposed elevation for the south front was in the Palladian style, which was just coming into fashion, and is quite different from all of his built designs. PLEASE DO NOT ADD AN INFO BOX TO THIS PAGE --> Palladian architecture is a European style of Architecture derived from the designs of the Italian
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Inside, the Vanbrugh hall is monumental with stone arcades all around at two levels. Arcaded screens at each end of the hall separate the hall from staircases, much like those at Audley End House and Castle Howard. Audley End House ( is largely an early 17th-century Country house just outside Saffron Walden, Essex, south of Cambridge, England Castle Howard is a Stately home in North Yorkshire, England 15 miles (24 km north of York. The staircase is behind the hall screen and leads to the staterooms on the first floor. The State Dining Room occupies Vanbrugh’s north-east tower, with its painted ceiling lit by a Venetian window. It contains the throne used by George IV at his Coronation Banquet, and a Regency giltwood throne and footstool used by Queen Victoria in the old House of Lords. Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901 was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland There is also a walnut and parcel gilt chair and footstool made for the use of George III at Westminster. George III (George William Frederick 4 June 1738 George III's long reign was marked by a series of military conflicts involving his kingdom much of the rest of Europe and places The King James and State Drawing Rooms have been redecorated over the centuries, and contain portraits by Reynolds and Van Dyck, European furniture, and yellow Soho Tapestries woven by Joshua Morris around 1730. The South Corridor contains thrones used by Prince Albert and Edward VII, as well as the desk on which Queen Victoria signed her coronation oath. A series of rooms follows in the Tudor east range, with recessed oriel windows and ornate ceilings. The Chinese drawing room has a splendidly rich ceiling and an 18th century, fan-vaulted oriel window. The walls are hung with Chinese wallpaper depicting birds amidst bamboo. The chapel is magnificent with superb 17th century plasterwork.
The park
It was originally the southern edge of the great Lincolnshire forest, and its medieval deer park and Tudor oak park are crossed by fine avenues of trees. A medieval deer park was an enclosed area containing deer It was surrounded by a ditch and bank with a wooden fence (known as a Pale) on top of the bank Oak trees which will have been among those recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 were growing in the park when drawings of the park were made in the early 18th century. The Domesday Book (ˈduːmzdeɪ bʊk also known as Domesday, or Book of Winchester) was the record of the great survey The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system Some of these ancient trees were reportedly still alive in the 20th century. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on The present Grimsthorpe Castle park was designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown (1771) and implemented by his patron, the Duke of Ancaster. Year 1771 ( MDCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a The garden contains a knot garden, hedged rose gardens, a terrace with herbaceous and shrub borders, and a summerhouse designed by Vanbrugh. The formal flower and topiary garden leads imperceptibly into the woodland garden, and provides a fine setting for the ornamental vegetable garden and orchard, created in the 1960’s by the Countess of Ancaster and Peter Coates. Peter Coates is a businessman from Goldenhill, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire who made his money in Catering (Stadia and Lindley Catering and Intricate parterres marked with box hedges lie close to the Castle, and a dramatic herbaceous border frames views across the lake.
Twentieth century
During the First World War Grimsthorpe Park was used by the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force as an emergency landing ground. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The Royal Flying Corps (RFC was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the Second World War the central part of the park, near the Vaudey Abbey site, was used a bombing range. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Vaudey Abbey was an English Cistercian abbey It was founded in 1147 by William Count of Aumale, Earl of York. In 1944 the castle housed a company of the Parachute Regiment while it was recovering from operations in Italy and training for what became Operation Market Garden. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Parachute Regiment is the Airborne Infantry element of the British Army. Operation Market Garden ( September 17, 1944 – September 25, 1944) was an Allied military operation fought in the Netherlands Their flight for Arnhem began from RAF Folkingham. Arnhem ( ( South Guelderish: Èrnem) is a city and Municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. RAF Folkingham was an air station of the Second World War period established in phases on a convex hilltop by the British Royal Air Force, and lent to the United
Grimsthorpe and Drummond castles are now owned and managed by a trust. Drummond Castle is a little south of Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland.
External links
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