Sizergh Castle and Garden

Sizergh Castle and Garden is a stately home and garden at Helsington in the English county of Cumbria, about 4 miles (6 km) south of Kendal. The castle, a grade I listed building, is in the care of the National Trust along with its garden and estate. It is the home of the Hornyold-Strickland family.

In 2016 the Sizergh estate was included in the newly extended Lake District National Park.

Details

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

Woodwork

There are oak-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 (V&A) in the 1890s and it was displayed as a reconstructed period room. The return of the panelling to its original location at Sizergh was advocated by among others Mark Girouard, 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 bargeboards 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. There are portraits by Alexis Simon Belle, painter in ordinary to James VII & II and the Old Pretender, 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.

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 National Trust in 1950 by Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland's grandson Lt. Cdr. Thomas Hornyold-Strickland, 7th Count della Catena.

Catherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII 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 Lady Strickland.

It was extended in Elizabethan times. Sir Thomas Strickland went into exile with James II.

Around 1770, the great hall was again expanded in the Georgian style.

Literary and Media interest

The Castle was featured in the ITV documentary Inside the National Trust.

A room, now restored and known as the Inlaid Chamber, is the subject of Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem The Queen’s Room, Sizergh Hall, Westmorland published in 1835.

Garden

The garden has a lake and a kitchen garden as well as an award-winning rock garden. The rock garden, which was constructed in the 1920s, is the largest limestone rock garden belonging to the National Trust.

Sizergh houses part of the National Collection of ferns which are to be seen in the rock garden, the stumpery and the orchard.

Estate

In 1336 a grant from Edward III allowed Sir Walter Strickland to enclose the land around Sizergh as his exclusive park.

The estate covers 647 hectares (1,600 acres).

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 on the western edge of the estate. The project received funding from Natural England as part of a higher level stewardship scheme. It is hoped to attract bittern and other wildlife.

Sizergh has received support from the Morecambe Bay Nature Improvement Area 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, hawfinches are attracted to the area because of its hornbeam trees, and these birds sometimes come close to the main car park.

Butterflies

Fritillary butterflies live on the estate.

See also

  • Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria
  • Listed buildings in Helsington
  • Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
  • List of historic houses in England
  • Strickland (surname)

References

  • Michael Waistell Taylor. "Sizergh Castle". The Old Manorial Halls of Westmorland & Cumberland. (Publications of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, Extra Series, volume 8). Kendal: T Wilson. Carlisle: Charles Thurnam and Sons. 1892. Pages 182 to 198.
  • Michael Waistell Taylor, "Sizergh, No. 1" (1889)  10 Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society 48
  • John F Curwen, "Sizergh, No. 2" (1889)  10 Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society 66
  • Ian Goodall, "Privacy, Display and Over Extension: Walter Strickland's Rebuilding of Sizergh" (2002) 82 The Antiquaries Journal 197
  • "Helsington: Sizergh Castle, Sizergh" (2007) 7 Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archeological Society (Third Series) 257
  • Anthony Emery. "Sizergh Castle". Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500. Cambridge University Press. 1996. Volume 1 (Northern England). Pages 248 to 250. Google.
  • Plantagenet Somerset Fry. "Sizergh". Castles of Britain and Ireland. BCA by arrangement with David & Charles. 1996. Page 181.
  • Edeline Sackville Strickland. Sizergh Castle, Westmoreland, and Notes on Twenty-five Generations of the Strickland Family. T Wilson. 1898. Google Books

External links

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Tips & Hints
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Carl Griffin
30 December 2015
Beautiful castellated manor house. Crammed full of elegant furnishings. Run by National Trust.
Steven Morris
29 October 2012
Castle opens from 1pm. Get in quick/early to reserve your spot in the castle!
C* D!ZzY????
28 March 2013
If you're driving and using a navigator type in LA8 8DZ as the castle's postcode instead of LA8 8AE
y
17 April 2011
Impressive estate. Nice little excursion to do if you have a couple of spare hours!
iain gray
18 August 2012
Nice stopover if you are driving M6 through lakes
Gill Kilshaw
30 May 2017
Hunting bugs with granddaughter
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Map
3 The Courtyard, Sizergh, Kendal LA8 8AE, UK Get directions
Fri 10:00 AM–4:00 PM
Sat-Sun 10:00 AM–5:00 PM
Mon 11:00 AM–4:00 PM
Tue 10:00 AM–4:00 PM
Wed 10:00 AM–3:00 PM

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