Beckington Castle is a historic house in the village of Beckington,

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. It was built in the early 17th century on the site of a medieval building. It has been home to various nobility and local businessmen, also serving as a hotel and school. It is now used as offices.

History

It was originally built in the early 17th century, on the site of an earlier medieval building by William Long, a clothier and patron of Beckington Church. In 1569 William's son Thomas lived there. At some time before 1616 it was sold to James Ley, 1st Earl of Marlborough who was

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of the King's Bench in

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and then in England; he was an English Member of Parliament and was

Lord High Treasurer The Lord High Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in England, below the Lord H ...

from 1624 to 1628. He was also a founder member of the Society of Antiquaries. Beckington Castle 1842

Several local merchants owned the building in the 18th century including Christopher Brewer, Samuel Love, and Nathaniel Mortimer. In the 1780s, Beckington Castle came into the hands of the Chislett family who owned it until 1870. It wasn't until 1839, that the name 'Castle House' was applied to the building. This later evolved into 'The Castle' and later 'Beckington Castle'. In 1870 George Esdaile bought the Castle for £450, the next owner was Colonel Augustus Hill who held it from 1896 until 1901. Edward Milles Nelson was owner from 1902 to 1926. He was President of the

Royal Microscopical Society The Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) is a learned society for the promotion of microscopy. It was founded in 1839 as the Microscopical Society of London making it the oldest organisation of its kind in the world. In 1866, the Society gained it ...

and author of 'The Cult of Circle Builders'. It was then the home of Captain John Hamilton of the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

, who later became the 3rd Baron Hamilton of Dalzell, and in 1942 it was the birthplace of his second son the politician

Archie Hamilton, Baron Hamilton of Epsom Archibald Gavin Hamilton, Baron Hamilton of Epsom, (born 30 December 1941) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. A member of the House of Lords, he served as Minister of State for the Armed Forces under John Ma ...

. It has also served as a hotel, and an antiques showroom. From 1945 to 1970, the Ravenscroft School occupied the building. In February, 1966, a fire began in the Castle's boiler room and some of the interior was destroyed. Ravenscroft closed for a week, then continued to operate in its outbuildings while the extensive damage was made good. The building is reputedly haunted and it may have been the first building in England which was described in an advertisement for sale as being more desirable because it was haunted.

Current use

In 1989, the Castle, which was in poor condition, and grounds were purchased by Systems Engineering & Assessment Ltd (SEA), which provides technical and procurement support to the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. Between 1995 and 1996 Beckington Castle was restored by SEA as their headquarters, in co-operation with Mendip Council and

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

Architecture

The three-storey building has three tall

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s with

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s and

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

s along the front with two similar gables on each side.

References

{{Authority control Grade II listed buildings in Mendip District Buildings and structures in Mendip District Grade II* listed houses in Somerset Houses in Somerset