Banwell Castle is a Victorian

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

mansion in

Banwell Banwell is a village and civil parish on the River Banwell in the North Somerset district of Somerset, England. Its population was 2,919 according to the 2011 census. History Banwell Camp, east of the village, is a univallate hillfort which h ...

, Somerset, England. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The land on which the house is built was owned by the

Bishop of Bath and Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of Do ...

. It was sold to John and Joan Landown in 1753. It was passed down to the Sympson family; John Dyer Sympson, a solicitor from London, built the castle as his home. It was completed in 1847. Built in the

style made popular by

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

.it was expanded and embellished in the 1880s by Sir Elskin Baker, having passed to

Sir William Baker Sir William Baker (5 November 1705 – 23 January 1770) was an English merchant and politician, a Member of the Parliament of Great Britain and Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. He was the son of John Baker, a London draper. He became ...

, Other owners and tenants have been 1854 to 1874 Henry & Elizabeth Pigou then Sir William & Lady Frances Baker. In 1883 the Estate was sold to the Shaw Yate's family from

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

. In 1905 Kate Behrens of Manchester purchased the property. Mr & Mrs Hope made it their home, she died in 1916 and the Estate was then sold to Richard Calvert who in 1919 had the Bristol Architect Sir

George Oatley Sir George Herbert Oatley (3 January 1863 – 12 May 1950) was an English architect noted for his work in Bristol, especially the gothic Wills Memorial Building. He was knighted for public service in 1925. Early life Oatley was born in Bristo ...

do remodelling work on the property. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it was taken over by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and used as the headquarters for No. 955 Squadron, which was a

barrage balloon A barrage balloon is a large uncrewed tethered balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe collision risk to aircraft, making the attacker's approach more difficult. Early barra ...

unit and part of Balloon Command. The gatehouse was used by the local

Air Raid Precautions Air Raid Precautions (ARP) refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s an ...

. In 1963 the Estate was sold to Simon and Phillipa Wills (of W.D. & H.O. Wills). Until 1976 the next owners were Charles Skilton, a book and postcard publisher, and Jean Desebrock from South Africa. In 1988 William H & Hugh A Parsons purchased part of the castle and later purchased the whole of the estate. It remains a family home but is used for weddings, pre booked dinner Parties, wakes and as a

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

Architecture

The house has five windows in the three-storey main block between small circular turrets with other octagonal and hexagonal towers. In front of the house is a terrace with a

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four rin ...

pierced

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

with statutes of lions rampant with swords on embattled octagonal gate piers which flank six steps. The coachhouse has a tall circular turret and contained a granary on the first floor. The gatehouse consists of a

Chamfer A chamfer or is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fu ...

ed double arch, with a parapet between circular embattled towers, with

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

gates with

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

motifs. The walled kitchen garden, south east of the house has another tower. The terrace adjoining the house leads to a decorative dairy. The west garden walls include another tower.

References

{{reflist Grade II* listed buildings in North Somerset Houses completed in 1847 Mock castles in England Gothic Revival architecture in Somerset Augustus Pugin buildings Grade II* listed houses in Somerset 1847 establishments in England