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Lulworth Castle
Lulworth Castle was built by Thomas Howard, 3rd Earl of Bindon, in the 17th century as a hunting lodge to provide entertainment for the King and Court. In 1641, Lulworth Castle was purchased by a direct ancestor of the present owners, Humphrey Weld.The Great Hall at Lulworth was an imposing room which led via an arch towards the main stairs and up to the Great Chamber, the central arena for entertaining guests. Beyond this lay the State Apartments reserved only for people of the highest rank. The second floor was divided into four less important suites composed of three rooms. From the main roof or the tops of the towers, parties could enjoy the panorama of the surrounding countryside.
As Roman Catholics in a Protestant world, the Weld family would suffer both financial and civil penalties for their religion. During the Civil War, Lulworth Castle was stripped of its fittings but it was not until the Restoration of the Monarchy that Humphrey Weld would be able to convert Lulworth Castle back into a stately country home. At around this time, he also built the great formal gardens which were fed by a rainwater system. In accordance with the fashionable French style, all the doorways on the first floor were realigned 'en filade'. The second floor was subdivided into further rooms to contain seven suites.
In the 18th century, Edward Weld modernised Lulworth Castle and the improvements were continued by his son Thomas. Having engaged architect, John Tasker the extensive changes provided a terrace with extra service rooms in the basement, enlargement of the chapel and the replacement of the main stairs. In the meantime, the first and ground floors were redecorated in the trendy Neoclassical style. Shortly after, the chapel in the grounds was built. At about this time, the Bastard family (no kidding!) were employed to carry out redecorations, repairs and adaptations. They specialised in high quality enrichments with decorative plasterwork and elaborate woodcarving. Surviving photos depict birds and floral swags on the door cases.
In the mid 1860's the last redecorations at Lulworth Castle took place. This time, the architect employed was Joseph Hansom who became famous for his invention of the hansom cab. He linked the two ground floor entrances so that it was no longer necessary to circulate the main rooms to access the rest of the castle. In the process, a 'gentleman's area' was created in the now isolated Southeast corner of the castle.
The exterior of Lulworth Castle has been preserved in much the state as that in which it was first built. Although the interior evolved with fashions of the times, all was lost in a blaze which broke out on the top floor on 29th August in 1927. Despite the household's desperate efforts to contain the fire, it was all to no avail. Furniture and paintings lay strewn across the castle grounds as they tried to salvage what they could. As the fire took control, Mr Herbert Weld reluctantly watched as the family home of some 250 years was gutted before his eyes. While the beautiful 18th century interior was lost, the fire revealed the original fabric of the building such as the twin-arched doorways of the 17th century Great Hall. One of the only rooms to survive was the brick-vaulted Muniment Room which stored important legal documents.
Restoration was begun by the Department for the Environment and finally completed by the English Heritage in 1988. Scattered throughout the castle are photos of the original interior. On your visit, you'll be able to see the King's bedroom, a working kitchen, surviving photos of Lulworth Castle and the other artefacts. One of these is the Bath chair which was widely used by the elderly and the sick in the 19th century. The wheeled carriage was covered by a folding hood, steered by the occupant but pushed from behind.
Location
Address: Lulworth Castle & Park, East Lulworth.
Postcode: BH20 5QS
Town/city or near: Lulworth
County: Dorset
Admission
Adults: £8.50
Children: £4.50
Opening Times
Open everyday except Saturdays. Closed 24th, 25th December and 7th - 21st January. From January to 24th March open from 10.30am to 4pm and 26th March - 29th September between 10.30am and 6pm, and the months of October and December from 10.30am to 4pm.
English Heritage
