![Tong Castle Shropshire 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Tong_Castle_Shropshire_2.jpg)
Tong Castle was a very large mostly
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 ...
country house in
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
whose site is between
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
and
Telford
Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in the same direction. With an est ...
, set within a park landscaped by
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 ...
,
[Wolverhampton's Listed Buildings] on the site of a medieval castle of the same name.
The original castle was built in the 12th century. During the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
it was defended for the
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
by
William Careless, and afterwards by
George Mainwaring. The original structure was demolished in 1765 after the estate had been purchased by
George Durant
George Durant (October 1, 1632 – February 6, 1692) was an Lawyer, attorney, Attorney General and Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House of Burgesses in the Province of Carolina. He is sometimes called the "fa ...
from the
Duke of Kingston
Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, with the title Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull being a title in the Peerage of England. The Earldom was created on 25 July 1628 for Robert Pierrepont, 1st Viscount Newark. Th ...
who built the house illustrated.
The building has been described both as an "architectural mongrel"
and more flatteringly as "the first real gothic building in Shropshire". While at first glance there appear some anomalies of design, such as the
ogee domes which, though Gothic in shape, are more redolent of the
English Renaissance
The English Renaissance was a Cultural movement, cultural and Art movement, artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginni ...
style, the house was actually in the
Strawberry Hill Gothic
Strawberry Hill House—often called simply Strawberry Hill—is a Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival villa that was built in Twickenham, London, by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) from 1749 onward. It is a typical example of the "#Strawb ...
style popularised by
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician.
He had Strawb ...
.
George Durant
George Durant (October 1, 1632 – February 6, 1692) was an Lawyer, attorney, Attorney General and Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House of Burgesses in the Province of Carolina. He is sometimes called the "fa ...
bought the estate at Tong in 1764 and commissioned
Lancelot "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 provide plans for rebuilding the castle and to improve the landscape around the castle in 1765.
Brown's account book shows a charge to Durant in 1765 for "Various Plans for the alterations of Tong Castle. My Journeys there several times" covering both the house and grounds, and making it Brown's first commission in Shropshire.
Water features north and south of the castle were altered to create Church or North Pool and the serpentine South Pool and two larger lakes were added built following
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 ...
's plans. The kitchen garden was moved further from the house and it is suggested that Brown was responsible for installing an
ice house. The Tudor Tong Castle was remodelled in the Gothic style, only retaining the main block of the 16th Century red-brick castle. Some of the stone from the college that had stood near Tong church was reused in the new building.
Walpole's Gothic house at Strawberry Hill was begun in 1749, expanded in 1760, and completed in 1776. Thus the comparatively early date of 1765 for Tong Castle to be erected in this fairly rare style would today have made Tong of the highest architectural grading class. The crenellated towers and pediments coupled with the paned, rather than traditional Gothic leaded, windows crowned by
ogee
An ogee ( ) is the name given to objects, elements, and curves—often seen in architecture and building trades—that have been variously described as serpentine-, extended S-, or sigmoid-shaped. Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combinatio ...
curves are typical of this style, as too are the generous bay windows with circular windows and
cruciform
Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design.
Cruciform architectural plan
Christian churches are commonly described ...
motifs in the upper levels. The later 19th-century Gothic tended to be more