Castle Howard 1) Please COPY the ENTIRE FORM below and paste it into an email to start 2) UPDATE your information carefully. We check it, but might not notice any errors, etc. 3) Prefix the SECTION HEADERS with: *** - Example: ***Opening Days: (new info) 4) email the ENTIRE FORM UPDATED back to us ASAP: wd (at) armchair-travel (dot) com **************************************************************** **************************************************************** Garden Name: Castle Howard Last Modified (we set this): 28-01-2013 Garden ID (we set this): 0440 pic (we set this): 0440_CastleHoward.jpg NOTE: If "missing", then please send us a picture for which is at least 1000 x 1000 pixels in size. Thanks! Garden Owner: Simon Howard Address: York Postcode: YO60 7DA County: Yorkshire Country: tel: 01653 648333 fax: website: www.castlehoward.co.uk public email: house //at// castlehoward.co.uk admin / private email: (add here for GG-only usage) group master website: English Heritage Grade (I, II, II*): I Opening Days & Times: House Open Daily from 11am to 4pm (last admission) from 23 March to 3 November, and 23 November to 15 December 2013-01-28Grounds, 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/No): Yes Parties / Coaches Comments: Viewing by Appointment (Yes/No): Yes Viewing by Appointment Comments: House Open for Viewing (Yes/No): Yes House Open Comments/Dates/Times: See above National/Scotland Garden Scheme days (Yes/No): No NGS/SGS Comments (PLEASE include DATES and Times): Best Times of Year to Visit: ...To see (pair by line with Best times to visit): Admission Prices: Gardens and Grounds, Adults £9.50; Children (4-16) £6; Senior Citizens & Students £9; Family (2+2) £25additional 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) £35.50Groups of 12 or over - rates available.Annual Pass: Adult from £40; see own website 12 (Yes/No only) items follow here- Parking: Yes Lavatories: Yes Disabled Access: Yes Shop: Yes Plants for Sale: Yes Lunches: Yes Teas: Yes Refreshments: Yes Picnics: Yes Dogs allowed: Yes Only on Lead: Yes Events: Yes Other Facilities or Comments on (Yes/No) items above: See above Special Features, Events/Dates and other comments: 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! National Collection: Garden Designer: W. A. Nesfield Description of Garden: 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. Garden History: 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. Local Inns (name, town): Stone Trough, KirkhamThe Grapes, Slingsby Accommodation (name, town): Restaurants (name, town): Village/Town/Sightseeing: