Elvaston Castle is a stately home in Elvaston,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nort ...

, England. The

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 ...

castle and surrounding parkland is run and owned by

Derbyshire County Council Derbyshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire, England. It has 64 councillors representing 61 divisions, with three divisions having two members each. They are Glossop and Charleswort ...

as a country park known as Elvaston Castle Country Park. The country park has of woodlands, parkland and formal gardens. The centrepiece of the estate is the

Grade II* Listed 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 Ire ...

Elvaston Castle. The castle has been neglected and is in need of restoration. Due to its condition, the building is not open to the public, and since 2008 has been listed on the Buildings at Risk Register.Elvaston Castle Country Park
- official Derbyshire County Council site
/ref> Derbyshire County Council estimates the castle and estate requires significant investment for both restoration and to support its longer-term maintenance. In 2017 The Elvaston Castle and Gardens Trust was created to manage the estate once these works, which are already underway, are completed.

History

Until the 16th century the estate was held by the Shelford Priory. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the Crown sold the priory and its estates in 1538 to Sir Michael Stanhope of

Rampton, Nottinghamshire Rampton is a village in the civil parish of Rampton and Woodbeck, about east of Retford in the Bassetlaw district, in the county of Nottinghamshire, England. The parish is long and thin, extending about east–west but only about north–s ...

. Sir John Stanhope (died 1611) granted the estate to his second son, also Sir John Stanhope (d .1638),

High Sheriff of Derbyshire High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift t ...

, in 1629. The manor house was built for the latter Sir John in 1633. This Elizabethan-style house was redesigned and extended in a grand Gothic Revival style by

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806. Early life W ...

in the early 19th century for the

Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington General Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington (17 March 17535 September 1829), styled Viscount Petersham until 1779, was a British Army officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1779 when he succeeded to the pe ...

. Wyatt designed a new wing, a new great hall, and most of the interiors of the castle, but died before work was completed. His designs were carried out by Robert Walker between 1815 and 1829. Further modifications were made in the 1836 by the architect Lewis Nockalls Cottingham; this work was on the Elizabethan-styled south front which was remodelled to match the rest of the now Gothic-styled castle. In 1860–1861 there were further alterations. See newspaper article in Derby Mercury dated Wed 9 Jan 1861 & 4 April 1860. The Earl of Harrington contracted alterations carried out by Robert Bridgart's building company of Friar Gate Derby under the direction of Messrs Giles & Brookhouse, architects. Both newspaper articles have lengthy descriptions of all the alterations. Robert Bridgart died in 1860 during the alterations and his son (Robert Bridgart of Derby) took over the building works. During

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 opposing ...

, the house was turned into a teacher training college after the original college in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby ga ...

was evacuated. The college vacated the house in 1947, after which time it remained mostly empty for the next two decades until its sale, starting a steady decline that continues to this day.

The Gardens

The 3rd Earl, approached

Capability Brown Lancelot Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English gardener and landscape architect, who remains the most famous figure in the history of the English la ...

to remodel the grounds of the Castle. He turned down the commission due to the flatness of the estate, which he described as having 'no capability'. In 1830, Charles Stanhope, 4th Earl of Harrington commissioned landscape gardener William Barron to redesign the gardens. The Fourth Earl caused scandal by marrying an actress 17 years his junior:

Maria Foote Maria Stanhope, Countess of Harrington (24 July 1797? - 27 December 1867), better known as Maria Foote, was a British actress and peeress in the nineteenth century. Early life Foote was born 24 July 1797(?) at Plymouth. Her father, Samuel T. Foot ...

. Maria and Charles were described as "inseparable and besotted"; the Earl wanted the gardens to be a "private and secluded oasis of great beauty" for himself and the love of his life. Barron would spend the next 20 years working on the gardens; he even brought in full-grown trees using a tree planting machine he had designed (an example of which is on display at

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its living collections include some of ...

) to try to give instant gratification to the Earl. The Fourth Earl and his Countess valued their garden for the romantic seclusion it afforded them, however following the death of their only son aged 4, the couple isolated themselves at the castle, never leaving and forbidding anyone from entering the grounds. (Some sources claim it was the Earl that instigated the seclusion and forbade his wife from leaving)Derby Ghosts and Paranormal – Elvaston Castle Ghosts Ghosts
Following the Fourth Earl's death in 1851, his brother, Leicester Stanhope, 5th Earl of Harrington, opened the gardens to the public. They became renowned as "a Gothic paradise", and are

Grade II Listed 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 Ire ...

. The estate contains over 50 structures, including stables, kennels, a walled garden, a home farm, several cottages, gatelodges, an ice house and a boathouse. The gardens are listed Grade II* on the

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

Country park

Following the Countryside Act 1968, the estate was sold in 1969 by

William Stanhope, 11th Earl of Harrington William Henry Leicester Stanhope, 11th Earl of Harrington (24 August 1922 – 12 April 2009), was a British army captain and peer. Early life and education Stanhope was the son of Charles Stanhope, 10th Earl of Harrington, and Margaret Trelawne ...

.Friends Of Elvaston Castle
/ref> By The Countryside Act proposed the creation of "

country park A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment. United Kingdom History In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a special meaning. There are around 250 recognised cou ...

s", "for the enjoyment of the countryside by the public". The council opened the estate to the public in 1970 and have operated it since then, as Elvaston Castle Country Park. In 1969, Elvaston was also used as a location for

Ken Russell Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films in the main were liberal adaptation ...

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

of the D.H. Lawrence novel ''Women in Love''.

Today

Elvaston Castle, Derbyshire, England-12Sept2010

The deterioration of the castle and estate which started after

continued until the 1970s. Although restoration work was carried out and the gardens and park brought back into good heart,the operating costs were significant. With dwindling public funds available, and priorities elsewhere by 1990 the castle was considered unsafe and was closed to visitors. In 2000, the council estimated the country park's running costs were £500,000 a year, and that they were facing a backlog of restoration work which would cost £3,000,000. In 2006, Derbyshire County Council commissioned a report, which estimated the castle and estate required at least £6.1 million of work and materials in essential repairs. Whilst development partners were interested in the Castle, a combination of public opposition and difficulty creating a plan which would achieve a suitable balance of development and access meant that these plans fell through. In 2013 The County Council asked The National Trust for help to create a future vision for the estate. This led, in 2015, to the County Council recruiting a Project Development Board to help it shape a future for the Estate as a charitable enterprise, further developing the Masterplan and exploring options for a sustainable future. This led to the formation of a totally independent board of Trustees in 2017 - The Elvaston Castle and Gardens Trust - and to the beginning of a new era for the estate.

Hauntings

The castle is thought by some to be haunted: various professional investigations have been conducted in the castle, with phenomena being reported including unexplained noises, unexplained apparitions, people being pushed and things being moved. The castle is also supposed to be the haunt of two ghosts known as ''The Grey Lady'', and ''The White Lady''. The White Lady is supposed to be the ghost of Maria, wife of the 4th Earl; she has been seen sitting in the windows of the castle, and walking the grounds with a white dog. The haunting atmosphere of the castle has inspired at least one gothic "novel" entitled "Elvingstone" by J.P Reedman.

References

English Heritage:Images of England, architectural description (1952) of listed building
*''Magna Britannia, Volume 5'' Derbyshire (1817) p. 142

External links

Official websiteElvaston Castle by Highgate SanctuaryElvaston Parish CouncilAn English Country Garden - images from Elvaston CastleVideo of the Castle and the grounds
{{Derbyshire Places of interest Castles in Derbyshire Country parks in Derbyshire Structures on the Heritage at Risk register Gothic Revival architecture in Derbyshire Grade II* listed buildings in Derbyshire Country houses in Derbyshire Mock castles in England Stanhope family Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Derbyshire Grade II* listed houses