(New) Hawarden Castle ( cy, Castell Penarlâg (Newydd)) is a house in
Hawarden
Hawarden (; cy, Penarlâg) is a village, community and electoral ward in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home to Hawarden Castle. In the 2011 census the ward of the same name ha ...
,
Flintshire
, settlement_type = County
, image_skyline =
, image_alt =
, image_caption =
, image_flag =
, image_shield = Arms of Flint ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. It was the estate of the former
British prime minister
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...
William Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
, having previously belonged to the family of his wife,
Catherine Glynne. Built in the mid-18th century, it was later enlarged and externally remodelled in the
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
taste.
History
The core of the present house is formed by a mansion built in 1752–57 for
Sir John Glynne, 6th baronet, to the designs of Samuel Turner the elder of
Whitchurch, Shropshire
Whitchurch is a market town in the north of Shropshire, England. It lies east of the Welsh border, 2 miles south of the Cheshire border, north of the county town of Shrewsbury, south of Chester, and east of Wrexham. At the 2011 Census, the ...
. It replaced the 16th century Broadlane Hall, the seat of the Ravenscroft family, which stood some way to the south. Glynne had acquired the estate through marriage. The new house was of brick with stone dressings. The main block was three storeys high, and seven bays wide, with a projecting three-bay central pediment. Two flanking side pavilions were planned but may not have been completed.
[
In the early 19th century, Sir Stephen Richard Glynne, 8th Baronet inherited the estate. In 1809 to 1810, he had the house enlarged, and the exterior completely remodelled in a ]crenellated
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...
Gothic Revival style, by the London architect Thomas Cundy the elder
Thomas Cundy, the elder (1765 – 28 December 1825) was an English architect. Surveyor to the Grosvenor family's London estates from 1821, he was involved in the initial stages of the development of Belgravia and Bloomsbury, and also designed coun ...
, although the Georgian interiors were preserved. He died prematurely and Sir Stephen Glynne, the 9th Baronet was left to make further improvements. He was the Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire, Member of Parliament for the Flint Boroughs from 1832 to 1837, and for the County of Flint
, HQ= County Hall, Mold, Flintshire
, Government= Flintshire County Council (1889–1974)
, Origin=
, Status= Ceremonial county (until 1974)Administrative county (1889–1974)
, Start ...
from 1837 to 1847. In around 1830, he had the main entrance moved from the south side of the house to the north, and had a vaulted porch added. On the death of the 9th Baronet, the estate passed to his brother-in-law, the liberal politician William Gladstone. There were further alterations to the house during Gladstone's occupancy, including a wing housing a library, designed by George Shaw of Saddleworth
Saddleworth is a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It comprises several villages and hamlets as well as suburbs of Oldham on the west side of the Pennine hills.
Areas include Austerlands, Delp ...
, built in the mid-1860s, a muniment room for the storage of his papers (1887–88), and an enlarged porch (1889), these last two both by Douglas and Fordham.[
In 1896 the Archbishop of Canterbury, ]Edward White Benson
Edward White Benson (14 July 1829 – 11 October 1896) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death. Before this, he was the first Bishop of Truro, serving from 1877 to 1883, and began construction of Truro Cathedral.
He was previous ...
, died at the castle and his body was put on the train at nearby Sandycroft station to be returned to London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.An article about the Archbishop's death on the Flintshire website
/ref>
Gladstone occupied the house until his death there in 1898, when it passed to his grandson William Glynne Charles Gladstone (son of W. E. Gladstone's eldest son, William Henry Gladstone
William Henry Gladstone (3 June 1840 – 4 July 1891) was a British Liberal Party Member of Parliament, and the eldest son of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone and his wife Catherine Glynne.
Life
Gladstone was born in Hawarden, Flints ...
, who had been High Sheriff of Flintshire
This is a list of High Sheriffs of Flintshire.
The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly, the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county, but over the centuries most of the responsibilit ...
for 1888 but had died in 1891). W. G. C. Gladstone was killed in the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
. The estate was subsequently purchased by his uncle Henry Gladstone, 1st Baron Gladstone of Hawarden. The house and estate are still a private residence (although some of the grounds are open to the public) and are still owned by the Gladstone family.[
In the grounds of the building lie the ruins of a ]medieval castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
, Hawarden Castle. This was built on the site of an Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
fort by the Normans and had a round keep
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...
built on a motte
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively eas ...
. Llywelyn ap Gruffudd
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (c. 1223 – 11 December 1282), sometimes written as Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, also known as Llywelyn the Last ( cy, Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, lit=Llywelyn, Our Last Leader), was the native Prince of Wales ( la, Princeps Wall ...
captured the stronghold in 1265, defeating Robert de Montalt
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, h ...
and destroying the castle. De Montalt later reneged on a promise not to rebuild his stronghold and the present massive keep was built. This was besieged in 1281 by Llywelyn's brother, Dafydd Dafydd is a Welsh masculine given name, related to David, and more rarely a surname. People so named include:
Given name Medieval era
:''Ordered chronologically''
* Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd (c. 1145-1203), Prince of Gwynedd
* Dafydd ap Gruffydd (123 ...
. The fatal war of 1282 to 1283 followed, with the Welsh being defeated and Hawarden Castle was occupied by the English after that. During the English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of Kingdom of England, England's governanc ...
it changed hands several times and ended up in a ruinous state in Parliamentary hands.
The house is designated as a Grade I listed building by Cadw
(, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...
because of its architecture, especially the 18th-century interiors, and for its exceptional importance as the home of W. E. Gladstone.
See also
*List of houses and associated buildings by John Douglas
John Douglas (1830–1911) was an English architect based in Chester, Cheshire. His designs included new churches, alterations to and restoration of existing churches, church furnishings, new houses and alterations to existing houses, and a var ...
*Fasque House
Fasque, also known as Fasque House or Fasque Castle, is a mansion in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, situated near the village of Fettercairn, in the former county of Kincardineshire.
Fasque was the property of the Ramsays of Balmain, and the prese ...
– William Gladstone's father's country house
References
External links
Hawarden Castle on Gathering the Jewels
Article on Hawarden Castle
in ''House and Heritage'', 22 January 2018
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawarden Castle (18th Century)
Castles in Flintshire
Mock castles in Wales
Houses completed in 1752
Country houses in Wales
Grade I listed buildings in Flintshire
Grade I listed houses
Prime ministerial homes in the United Kingdom
Grade I listed castles in Wales
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales