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Castle Howard tel: 01653 648333 Area: Yorkshire |
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| Visitor Information | www.castlehoward.co.uk -- email: house {at} castlehoward.co.uk |
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Castle Howard |
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| Opening Days and Hours | ||||||
Daily except Christmas Day; 10am - 6.30pm, or dusk in winter. The gardens close at dusk in winter with last admission at 4.30pm. |
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| Parties
/ Coaches: Yes |
Groups
/ Coaches need Appointment: Yes |
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House
Open for Viewing: Yes |
National
Garden Scheme days: No |
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Best
Times of Year to Visit: |
To
see: |
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| Admission Prices | ||||||
| Gardens and Grounds, Adults £8.50; Children (4-16) £6; Senior Citizens & Students £8; Family (2+2) £23 additional child 5 yrs or more add £7.50 (House & Garden) or £6.00 (Gardens only) Inclusive ticket (House and Grounds) Adults - £13; Child £7.50; Senior Citizens & Students £11; Family (2+2) £33.50 Groups of 12 or over - rates available. Annual Pass: Adult from £40; see own website |
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| 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 |
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| Other
Facilities: Stable courtyard shops: Open daily all year (except Christmas and New Year Bank Holidays) from 10.00am until 5.00pm. (Free admission.) |
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| Garden Features | ||||||
| Magnificent 18th century house, extensive collections and sweeping parklands with temples, lakes, fountains and the famous Rose Garden. Historical character guides, outdoor daily tours, live archaeological dig and special event programme. Lectures, tours and study day available for groups. In all, a great day out! | English Heritage Garden Grade: I | |||||
| National Collection: | ||||||
| Description of Garden | Designer:
W. A. Nesfield |
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| 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. |
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| 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: |
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| Inns & Pubs: Stone Trough, Kirkham Gold Cup Inn, Low Catton |
Villages / Towns
/ Sightseeing: |
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  - Yorkshire |
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0440_CastleHoward.jpg - Castle Howard (Yorkshire)
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