Sizergh Castle and Garden is a

stately home An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

and

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

Helsington Helsington is a civil parish in the South Lakeland district of the English county of Cumbria. It includes the village of Brigsteer and Sizergh Castle and Garden, a property owned by the National Trust. In the 2001 census the parish had a popu ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, about south of

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of th ...

. Located in

historic History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

, the

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 ...

is a grade I

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 ...

. While remaining the home of the Hornyold-Strickland family, the castle with its garden and estate is in the care of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. In 2016 the Sizergh estate was included in the newly extended

Lake District National Park The Lake District National Park is a national park in North West England that includes all of the central Lake District, though the town of Kendal, some coastal areas, and the Lakeland Peninsulas are outside the park boundary. The area was desi ...

Details

Sizergh Castle against a blue sky, July 2016

The earliest part of the building is a tower of fourteenth or fifteenth century date.

Woodwork

Some of the early furnishings date from the time of Walter Strickland (1516–1569) who married Alice Tempest in 1560. She made inventories of the house after her husband's death. These mention three oak armchairs and three chests still in the house. There are

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

-panelled interiors, including the Inlaid Chamber, where the panelling is inlaid with floral and geometric patterns in pale poplar and dark bog-oak. The contents of the Inlaid Chamber were sold to the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in the 1890s and it was displayed as a reconstructed

period room A period room is a display that represents the interior design and decorative art of a particular historical social setting usually in a museum. Though it may incorporate elements of an individual real room that once existed somewhere, it is usuall ...

. The return of the panelling to its original location at Sizergh was advocated by among others

Mark Girouard Mark Girouard (7 October 1931 – 16 August 2022) was a British architectural historian. He was an authority on the country house, and Elizabethan and Victorian architecture. Life and career Girouard was born on 7 October 1931. He was educ ...

, an authority on England's country houses. The panelling returned in 1999 under a long-term loan. In 2017 it was reported that transfer of ownership to the National Trust had been made formal. The

bargeboard Bargeboard (probably from Medieval Latin ''bargus'', or ''barcus'', a scaffold, and not from the now obsolete synonym "vergeboard") or rake fascia is a board fastened to each projecting gable of a roof to give it strength and protection, and to ...

s probably date from the seventeenth century.

Paintings

The Castle contains a variety of paintings, including the following: * a collection of portraits of the Catholic Royal Stuart family reflects the Strickland family's links to the Jacobite court in exile at

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Ge ...

. There are portraits by

Alexis Simon Belle Alexis Simon Belle (12 January 1674 – 21 November 1734) was a French portrait painter, known for his portraits of the French and Jacobite nobility. As a portrait artist, Belle's style followed that of his master François de Troy, Hyacinthe R ...

, painter in ordinary to James VII & II and the

Old Pretender James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales fro ...

, of Queen Mary of Modena and her daughter Princess Louisa Maria. * Strickland family portraits, including **works by local artist George Romney, **a portrait of Mrs Anne Strickland (the artist's mother) by Harriet Strickland (1816–1903), and a portrait of Lady Edeline Sackville.

Portraits gallery

Image: Mary Matthews (1823-1890), Madame de La Chère (05).jpg, Mary Matthews (1823–1890), Mrs Julien-Francois-Bertrand de La Chère Image: Alice de La Chere.jpg, Marie Louise Geneviève Alice de La Chère (1856–1943), wife of Alfred Joseph Gandolfi-Hornyold (1850–1922) Image: Lord Thomas Strickland Standish (1763-1813).jpg, Lord Thomas Strickland Standish (1763–1813) Image: Henriette Rose Peronne de Sercey (05).jpg, Henriette Rose Peronne de Sercey (1770–1849) by

François Gérard François Pascal Simon Gérard (, 4 May 1770 – 11 January 1837), titled as Baron Gérard in 1809, was a prominent French painter. He was born in Rome, where his father occupied a post in the house of the French ambassador, and his mother was It ...

Image: Thomas Strickland Standish of Sizergh (1792-1835).jpg, Thomas Strickland Standish of Sizergh (1792–1835) Image: Gasparine Ursule Ida de Finguerlin de Bischingen (05).jpg, Ursule Ida de Finguerlin de Bischingen (1805–1846), Mrs Thomas Strickland Standish of Sizergh

History

The Deincourt family owned this land from the 1170s. On the marriage of Elizabeth Deincourt to Sir William de Stirkeland in 1239, the estate passed into the hands of what became the Strickland family, who owned it until it was gifted to the

in 1950 by

Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland Gerald Paul Joseph Cajetan Carmel Antony Martin Strickland, 6th Count della Catena, 1st Baron Strickland, (24 May 1861 – 22 August 1940) was a Maltese and British politician and peer, who served as Prime Minister of Malta, Governor of the L ...

's grandson Lt. Cdr. Thomas Hornyold-Strickland, 7th Count della Catena.

Catherine Parr Catherine Parr (sometimes alternatively spelled Katherine, Katheryn, Kateryn, or Katharine; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until ...

, the sixth wife of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

and a relative of the Stricklands, is thought to have lived here after her first husband died in 1533. Catherine's second husband, Lord Latymer, was kin to the

dowager A dowager is a widow or widower who holds a title or property—a "dower"—derived from her or his deceased spouse. As an adjective, ''dowager'' usually appears in association with monarchy, monarchical and aristocracy, aristocratic Title#Aristocr ...

Lady Strickland. It was extended in

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

times. Sir Thomas Strickland went into exile with James II. Around 1770, the great hall was again expanded in the

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

style.

Gardens

The gardens are registered Grade II. There is a lake, a kitchen garden and a

rock garden A rock garden, also known as a rockery and formerly as a rockwork, is a garden, or more often a part of a garden, with a landscaping framework of rocks, stones, and gravel, with planting appropriate to this setting. Usually these are small A ...

. The rock garden, constructed in the 1920s, is the largest

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

rock garden belonging to the National Trust. Sizergh houses part of the

National Collection The UK National Collection is a collection of around 280 historic rolling stock, rail vehicles (predominantly of British origin). The majority of the collection is kept at four national museums: * National Railway Museum, York * National Railwa ...

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...

s, which are to be seen in the rock garden, the

stumpery A stumpery is a garden feature similar to a rockery but made from parts of dead trees. This can take the form of whole stumps, logs, pieces of bark or even worked timber such as railway sleepers or floorboards. The pieces are arranged artistica ...

and the orchard.

Estate

In 1336 a grant from

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

allowed Sir Walter Strickland to enclose the land around Sizergh as his exclusive park. The estate covers .

Biodiversity

There are various types of habitat on the estate. For example, in 2014 it was reported that 35 ha of wetland habitat was being created in the

Lyth Valley The Lyth Valley is on the edge of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. It gives its name to an electoral ward (one of 45 in South Lakeland). The valley is sheltered by limestone hills and enjoys a relatively mild micro-climate ...

on the western edge of the estate. The project received funding from

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

as part of a higher level stewardship scheme. It is hoped to attract

bittern Bitterns are birds belonging to the subfamily Botaurinae of the heron family Ardeidae. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called ''hæferblæte'' in Old English; the word "bittern" ...

and other wildlife. Sizergh has received support from the Morecambe Bay

Nature Improvement Area Nature Improvement Areas (NIAs) are a network of large scale initiatives in the landscape of England to improve ecological connectivity and improve biodiversity. They were launched in 2012. At 2015 the NIAs covered 47,000 acres of England in total ...

which was launched in 2012. It received three years of government grant funding (2012–15). Projects continue under the auspices of the Morecambe Bay Partnership, a registered charity.

Birds

The Sizergh estate is a good place to see birds. For example,

hawfinch The hawfinch (''Coccothraustes coccothraustes'') is a passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Coccothraustes''. Its closest living relatives are the Chinese grosbeak (''Eophona migratoria'') ...

es are attracted to the area because of its

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornbeam' ...

trees, and these birds sometimes come close to the main car park.

Butterflies

Fritillary butterflies (including pearl-bordered and

high brown fritillary ''Fabriciana adippe'', the high brown fritillary, is a large and brightly colored butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, native to Europe and across the Palearctic to Japan. It is known for being Great Britain's most threatened butterfly and is li ...

) live on the estate.

Literary and media interest

The castle was featured in the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

documentary ''Inside the National Trust''. The room known as the Inlaid Chamber is the subject of

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...

's poetical illustration ''The Queen’s Room, Sizergh Hall, Westmorland'' to an engraving of a painting by

Thomas Allom Thomas Allom (13 March 1804 – 21 October 1872) was an English architect, artist, and topographical illustrator. He was a founding member of what became the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He designed many buildings in London, in ...

, published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836.

References

* * * * *"Helsington: Sizergh Castle, Sizergh" (2007
7
Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archeological Society (Third Series) 257 * * *

External links

Sizergh Castle & Garden information at the National TrustPaintings at Sizergh
Art UK
wikidata List of paintings at Sizergh CastleThe Cumbria Directory – Sizergh Castle Garden
{{Authority control Houses completed in the 14th century Birdwatching sites in England Towers completed in the 14th century Castles in Cumbria Peel towers in Cumbria Grade II listed parks and gardens in Cumbria Country houses in Cumbria National Trust properties in Cumbria Collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum Historic house museums in Cumbria Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria