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Castle Howard
 

Castle Howard
York


YO60 7DA

tel: 01653 648333
fax:

Area: Yorkshire
Show Map Location:
Overview Map (30 Km)
Detailed Map (1.5 Km)

Castle Howard -- Yorkshire
Garden owners: Please correct this page as needed - Update instructions here.
Visitor Information

Email: house //at// castlehoward.co.uk
Garden Website: www.castlehoward.co.uk
Group Website:



Castle Howard
Last Update*  28-01-2013
Yorkshire

Text-Only version here

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 Opening Days and Hours

House Open Daily from 11am to 4pm (last admission) from 23 March to 3 November, and 23 November to 15 December 2013-01-28
Grounds, shops and cafˇs open daily all year from 11am to 5.30pm (dusk in winter). Shops and cafˇs close at 5pm (4pm in winter)

Parties / Coaches: Yes
Groups / Coaches need Appointment: Yes

House Open for Viewing: Yes
See above
View this house at StatelyHomes.com

National Garden Scheme days: No
Best Times of Year to Visit:
To see:
 Admission Prices
Gardens and Grounds, Adults £9.50; Children (4-16) £6; Senior Citizens & Students £9; Family (2+2) £25
additional child 5 yrs or more add £7.50 (House & Garden) or £6.00 (Gardens only)
Inclusive ticket (House and Grounds) Adults - £14; Child £7.50; Senior Citizens & Students £12; Family (2+2) £35.50
Groups of 12 or over - rates available.
Annual Pass: Adult from £40; see own website
 Onsite Facilities
Parking: Yes
Lavatories: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Shop: Yes
Plants for Sale: Yes
Lunches: Yes
Teas: Yes
Light Refreshment: Yes
Picnics: Yes
Dogs Allowed: Yes
On Lead only: Yes
Special Events: Yes
Other Facilities & Comments:
See above
Disabled information plus mobility and walking aids
 Garden Features & Events
Magnificent 18th century house, extensive collections and sweeping parklands with temples, lakes, fountains and the famous Rose Garden. Outdoor daily tours, exhibitions and events, adventure playground and boat trips, free illustrated trail for children. Talks, tours and study days available for groups. In all, a great day out! English Heritage Garden Grade: I
National Collection:
 Description of Garden
Designer: W. A. Nesfield
The original garden was intended purely to provide fruit and vegetables for the house but soon afterwards a major tree planting programme began and then the South parterre was laid out and ornamental statuary installed. By the middle of the 18th century the Walled garden was doubled in size to 11 acres and a hundred years later W. A. Nesfield re-designed it in a much more elaborate pattern, with the famous Atlas Fountain at its centre. This was simplified by Lady Rosalind at the end of the 19th century to the less high maintenance design visible today. The major feature of the garden is the fabulous rose collection of over 2,000 varieties laid out in the old Walled Garden near the house. It actually consists of three adjoining gardens, one dedicated to the memory of Lady Cecilia Howard, contains old roses, many quite rare. The other two were replanted in 1994 and 1995 and contain modern roses, including David Austin's English roses.

Ray Wood, which originally held a remarkable collection of plants and ornamental statuary was felled in 1940 and re-planted in 1970 by George Howard to the design of James Russell and now contains one of the largest and best collections of rhododendrons - over 800 varieties - and banks of pieris, rare magnolias, hydrangeas, viburnums, maples and rowans offering colour from Spring to Autumn.

The park contains some wonderful lead statuary of Classical Greek and Roman figures, recently restored, and a cornucopia of stone structures, bridges, temples, obelisks, pyramids, mock fortifications and not least the Grand Mausoleum, all worth visiting. In all there are 125 acres of parkland set in the 10,000 acre estate.
 History of Garden
The home since its completion of the Howard family, it is Sir John Vanburgh's first and perhaps his finest creation, with considerable assistance from the architect, Nicholas Hawksmoor, and is built for the main part in a flamboyant baroque style. The house took ten years to build from the first drawings in 1699 but it was added to continually for almost the next 100 years, the dome being the first such to be incorporated in a private house in England. However the 3rd Earl of Carlisle's attention turned to landscaping the grounds from 1715 onwards and the West Wing was not completed until 1777, and then in the Palladian style favoured by Carlisle's son-in-law, Sir Thomas Robinson. Thus the two wings of the house are not symmetrical and indeed two different orders are employed for the pilasters on either side of the house - Doric for the north and Corinthian for the south. When challenged on this discrepancy, Vanburgh replied that no-one could see both sides simultaneously! The Long Gallery and the Dining Room were the last elements to be completed in 1810-11 by Charles Heathcote Tatham. In the 20th century, Castle Howard suffered the disaster of a major fire in 1940 when it was occupied by a girl's school, but was rescued by the efforts of George Howard, who had inherited after the deaths of his two elder brothers in WWII. He rebuilt the dome in 1960-62 and after the filming of Brideshead Revisited there, was able to rebuild the Garden Hall. His son, the Hon. Simon Howard, has continued the restoration by re-roofing the Central Block and initiating major restoration work in the Park, notably by dredging and landscaping the lake.
 Nearby Yorkshire Hotels, Facilities & Amenities


Hotels & Accommodation:
Restaurants:
Inns & Pubs:
Stone Trough, Kirkham
The Grapes, Slingsby
Villages / Towns / Sightseeing:
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*Information Updates
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The garden information above was last updated on 28-01-2013

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0440_CastleHoward.jpg - Castle Howard (Yorkshire)