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Castle Howard, North Yorkshire

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Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, one of the biggest country houses in Britain, is widely known as a film set for Brideshead Revisited. This famous role as a film set says much about Castle Howard. In the late seventeenth century the 3rd Earl of Carlisle decided he wanted a new house. He decided to commission John Vanbrugh, whose main qualification seemed to be that he was a member of the same dining club as Carlisle, the Kit Kat Club. Assisted, thankfully, by the experienced Nicholas Hawksmoor, Vanbrugh started construction in 1701. The chosen style was "baroque," though it seems there wasn't so much a plan as a desire to jump in with a lot of jolly energy and see what happened. A "baroque" style emerged, which in this context seems to mean a building with lots of twiddly decoration, cherubs, urns and coronets. Original baroque had emerged in the early seventeenth century in response to the Catholic Church calling for the arts to communicate religious themes. The plan, as devised at the Council of Trent, was to oppose the new Protestant movement through art. This translated into dramatic, heavily decorated architecture designed to impress visitors with the power of religion, and the owner's commitment to it. But Castle Howard's baroque had little to do with all this. Vanbrugh was a clever, rebellious, protestant dilettante who really just wanted a dramatic effect. Of course Vanbrugh was intelligent enough to understand that dramatic effect was also what the original catholic baroque had sought. A superficial interest in baroque simply as impressive decoration was perhaps a more honest use of the architectural style.

When Vanbrugh died in 1726 the house was still not complete, and it was many years before it was finished. For some reason the West Wing was built in a Palladian style, a style based on the agricultural buildings of sixteenth century Italy. By the time Castle Howard was completed in 1811 it was a mixture of dramatic architectural styles, all taken out of their original contexts and times, and mixed up together for a sense of historical dramatic effect. The final historically dramatic detail comes in the name of Castle Howard. It isn't a castle - the age of castle had been over for a long time by the early eighteenth century - but the term castle still had historically romantic and dramatic connotations which made it valuable for Vanbrugh. This was a huge ambitious historical film set of a building, and it is fitting that it is known as a film location for historical film drama. Vanbrugh was himself a great dramatist. He wrote plays such as The Provoked Wife which entertained and scandalised his age, and Castle Howard could be looked upon as another of Vanbrugh's adventurous and cheeky theatrical productions. He would probably have been pleased to see film crews at work here. Apart from its use as a set for Brideshead Revisited in 1981, and in the 2008 remake, Castle Howard has also provided locations for Peter Ustinov's Lady L (1965), Galton and Simpson's The Spy With The Cold Nose (1966) - where Castle Howard played the part of the Kremlin! - Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975), The Buccaneers (1995), and Garfield, A Tale of Two Kitties (2006).

Castle Howard was badly damaged by a fire in 1940, and restoration work continues today. The castle has been open to the public since 1952 and offers a range of activities, an adventure playground, a restaurant and shopping. This is a great place for a family day out. And of course if you are a film maker this is the place for you.

 

 

Opening Times: Gardens, restaurant, shops and playground are open daily all year, 10am - 5pm. The gardens close at dusk in winter with last admission at 5pm.

The house is open from November 26th to December 18th 11am - 4pm, and from March 24th 2012. Carers are admitted free.

Directions: Castle Howard is fifteen miles east of York, just off the A64. Click here for an interactive map centred on Castle Howard.

Address: Castle Howard, York, YO60 7DD.

Access: There is good level access to most areas, excluding a few parts of the house. On site transport is provided, along with designated parking, adapted toilet facilities, and a hearing loop in the ticket office

Contact:

telephone: 01653 648640

for group visits: 01653 648621

e-mail: house@castlehoward.co.uk

web site: http://www.castlehoward.co.uk/