Wilton Castle is an early 19th-century

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

, built on the site 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 ...

, now converted into residential apartments, situated at Wilton, in Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It is a Grade II listed building.

History

At the time of the '' Doomsday Book'' the estate is recorded as held by Nigel on behalf of Robert Earl of Morton. John de Bulmer and the

Bulmer family The Bulmer family were a noble family of Normans, Norman England, resident in Yorkshire. The family takes their name from Bulmer, North Yorkshire. The name Bulmer comes from British english, English "Bull mere", a lake frequented by a bull, and is ...

became lords of the manor of Wilton but it isn't until towards the end of the 11th century when the Bulmer family are recorded as building a wooden manor house on the land. In 1170 Sir Ralph de Bulmer received a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

confirming his ownership of the estate.

King John King John may refer to: Rulers * John, King of England (1166–1216) * John I of Jerusalem (c. 1170–1237) * John Balliol, King of Scotland (c. 1249–1314) * John I of France (15–20 November 1316) * John II of France (1319–1364) * John I o ...

granted William de Bulmer a licence to fortify their

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

in the year 1210. This would mean building in stone and marks the beginnings of the original castle as a fortified residence. In 1330 a Sir Ralph de Bulmer obtained a charter of his desmesne from

King 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 ro ...

acknowledging his ownership of the estate. Sir Ralph carried out further alterations to the building and obtained a licence to crenellate from King Edward III allowing him to make the manor house into a castle. All estates including Wilton estate were forfeit to the crown following the attainder and execution of Sir John and Lady Bulmer on 25 May 1537, for high treason under the 1534 Act of Supremacy, arising out of their part in the Pilgrimage of Grace, in protest against

King 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 disag ...

's break with the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. The manor was later restored to their nephew, Sir Ralph de Bulmer (d. 1558) by King Edward VI in 1547. In 1558

Queen Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

granted the estate to Sir Thomas Cornwallis and the estate passed via his son and grandson to his great-grandson

Lord Charles Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army General officer, general and official ...

in 1698. Lord Cornwallis sold the estate in the early 1700s to Sir

Stephen Fox Sir Stephen Fox (27 March 1627 – 28 October 1716) of Farley in Wiltshire, of Redlynch Park in Somerset, of Chiswick, Middlesex and of Whitehall, was a royal administrator and courtier to King Charles II, and a politician, who rose from ...

. Sir Stephen's son by his second marriage was created

Earl of Ilchester Earl of Ilchester is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1756 for Stephen Fox, 1st Baron Ilchester, who had previously represented Shaftesbury in Parliament. He had already been created Baron Ilchester, of Ilchester in t ...

in 1747 and sold the estate the next year. The estate was purchased by the trustees of the will of a Robert Lowther for the benefit of (Sir) James Lowther (1736–1802), member of Parliament (1757–1784). Sir James Lowther became the first

Earl of Lonsdale Earl of Lonsdale is a title that has been created twice in British history, firstly in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1784 (becoming extinct in 1802), and then in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1807, both times for members of the Lowth ...

in 1784 and with his death in 1802 the Earldom of Lonsdale became extinct.

Demolition and rebuilding

The castle had been allowed to decay and by 1805 was largely a ruin. The estate was purchased in about 1806 by a cousin Sir John Lowther (1759–1844). Sir John Lowther demolished the remains of the medieval castle in about 1807, and in 1810 built an imposing mansion house on the site, to a design by architect Sir Robert Smirke. The first stage of the rebuilding of the ''castle'' was the building of the centre block, the west wing and a short low east wing and later in a second phase of building, an octagonal tower was added to the end of the east wing. 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 ...

design includes a fifteen-bay frontage with a four-storey castellated tower at the centre, flanked by castellated and gabled bays and turrets and five-bayed two-storey wings. Lowther was created a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1824 (see Lowther Baronets). The iron industry was founded in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

Bolckow and Vaughan Bolckow, Vaughan & Co., Ltd was an English ironmaking and mining company founded in 1864, based on the partnership since 1840 of its two founders, Henry Bolckow and John Vaughan. The firm drove the dramatic growth of Middlesbrough and the prod ...

followed by the chance discovery in 1850 of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

in the Eston hills on land that the Lowthers owned. One area of farmland was rented to Bolckow and Vaughan for £17,700 pa and this change of fortunes funded later redevelopment work. Sir Charles Hugh Lowther, 3rd Baronet (1803–1894) inherited the family baronetcy from his brother in 1868. The whole of the east wing including the octagonal tower was later demolished and replaced by 1887 with amongst other rooms a pavilion ballroom to create essentially the building that exists today. Farmhouses and outbuildings on the estate were also demolished and rebuilt for tenants followed by the building of a new village of Wilton out of sight of the castle, and the main road was moved further away from the front of the castle. On the death of the third Baronet in 1894 the Baronetcy passed to his grandson but the Wilton Castle estate passed to his younger son James Lowther (1840–1904). James Lowther died at Wilton in 1904 and left the castle to his nephew Colonel John George Lowther.

Post War

Colonel Lowther sold the estate including Wilton Castle, his private residence in 1945 to

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at M ...

. In 1946 staff moved into Wilton Castle to plan the development of the estate as a chemical works. The estate was laid out as ICI Wilton and the whole of the castle was converted and used as offices due to restrictions at the time on building new offices. The offices were occupied at various times by major industrialists such as Dr Richard Beeching and Sir John Harvey Jones. Staff were transferred to new offices on the works site as restrictions were lifted, such that by 1969 the building had many empty offices, but still had dining facilities and bedrooms for visitors, and a staff club. In 1970 ICI carried out internal modifications and invited

Trust House Forte Group plc was a British hotel and restaurant company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Granada in 1996. Its head office was in the London Borough of Camden. ...

to manage the facilities. The park had been developed as a golf course for ICI staff and was sold in 1999. The golf club was acquired by its members, and over the period 2001–2002 Wilton Castle was converted by George Wimpey Ltd into 45 apartments and houses.

Current status

There is no remaining evidence of the building of 1210, but internal walls to the east of the entrance are particularly thick and it is thought they constituted part of the original tower. Wilton Castle was given grade II

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 ...

status in 1952. As well as the castle the associated stable block, garden wall, and retaining wall are grade II listed buildings.

Cultural references

The castle was used as a location in the BBC television drama series

Spender ''Spender'' is a British television police procedural drama, created by Ian La Frenais and Jimmy Nail, that first broadcast on 8 January 1991 on BBC1. The series, which also starred Nail as the titular character, ran for three series between 1 ...

(1991).

References