Muncaster Castle: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
mNo edit summary Tags: Reverted Visual edit |
reverted as referenced material was deleted and some unreferenced material added Tags: Manual revert Reverted |
||
| Line 43: | Line 43: | ||
}} |
}} |
||
'''Muncaster Castle''' is a privately owned castle overlooking the [[River Esk, Cumbria|River Esk]], about a mile east of the west-coastal town of [[Ravenglass]] in [[Cumbria]], England. It is recorded in the [[National Heritage List for England]] as a designated Grade I [[Listed building#England and Wales|listed building]].<ref>{{NHLE |num=1068780|desc=Muncaster Castle|accessdate=1 October 2012}}</ref> |
'''Muncaster Castle''' is a privately owned castle overlooking the [[River Esk, Cumbria|River Esk]], about a mile east of the west-coastal town of [[Ravenglass]] in [[Cumbria]], England. It is recorded in the [[National Heritage List for England]] as a designated Grade I [[Listed building#England and Wales|listed building]].<ref>{{NHLE |num=1068780|desc=Muncaster Castle|accessdate=1 October 2012}}</ref> |
||
==History== |
==History== |
||
The place is now corruptly known as "Muncaster", which first appeared in a [[Cumberland]] church register in 1577, the original name according to all old evidence and records being "Mulcaster", registered in the pipe rolls of Cumberland circa 1150 (also as Molecaster and Mulecaster in 1190 and 1236 respectively). |
|||
The Muncaster estate was granted to Alan de Penitone in 1208. The oldest existing parts of the castle include the [[Great Hall]] and the 14th-century [[pele tower]], a type of watch-tower fortification unique to the English-Scottish border region. The [[Pennington (surname)|Pennington]] family is among the oldest English noble families in Northern England, first appearing in the [[Domesday Book]] which is England's earliest public record containing a unique survey of the value and ownership of lands and resources in late 11th century England. Pennington is mentioned in the Domesday Book as one of the townships forming the [[Manor of Hougun]] which was held by [[Tostig Godwinson|Tostig Godwinson, Earl of North Cumbria]]. In the book, the surname's first recorded occurrence was spelled Pennigetun and the first place named Pennigetun is [[Pennington, Cumbria]] near [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]] and it is said to have been named after the aristocratic Pennington Family. |
|||
The placename "Muncaster" contains the Latin word ''castra'', meaning "encampment", or "fort".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Latin Word Lookup |url=http://catholic.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/lookup.pl?stem=castrum&ending= |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415010629/http://catholic.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/lookup.pl?stem=castrum&ending= |archive-date=2012-04-15 |access-date=2012-04-04 |publisher=Catholic.archives.nd.edu}}</ref>{{Explain|date=October 2021|reason=Why is the plural form singled out here (with source please)?}} It is suspected that the site of the castle lies on foundations dating to the [[Roman Britain|Roman]] era, which, if they exist, may represent a ''[[castellum]]'' for the nearby Roman fort of [[Glannoventa]] at [[Ravenglass]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 30, 2015 |title=Ruins of a Roman Bath and the Foundations of a Castle – Ravenglass and Muncaster |url=https://cambridgemilitaryhistory.com/2015/04/30/ruins-of-a-roman-bath-and-the-foundations-of-a-castle-ravenglass-and-muncaster/}}</ref> |
|||
The Muncaster estate was granted to Alan de Penitone in 1208. The oldest parts of the castle include the [[Great Hall]] and the 14th-century [[pele tower]], a type of watch-tower fortification unique to the English-Scottish border region. |
|||
The [[Pennington (surname)|Pennington]] House traces its lineage back to Gamel de Penitone, a prominent figure before and during the Norman Conquest of 1066.<ref>"The English Baronetage" published in 1741</ref> By 1250 the Pennington names were all in Norman form. In general, Old English (Saxon) and Cymric (Welsh or British) names were a minority in the population. Overall, this account suggests the family's importance in [[Cumberland]] even before the Norman Conquest. Early records of the Pennington family tree can be found in the a book for Sir [[Josslyn Pennington, 5th Baron Muncaster]] of Muncaster and ninth baronet.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Foster |first=Joseph |url=http://archive.org/details/pedigreeofsirjos00fost |title=Pedigree of Sir Josslyn Pennington, fifth baron Muncaster of Muncaster and ninth baronet |date=1878 |publisher=London, Chiswick Press |others=Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center}}</ref> Additionally, they were connected by marriage to the [[Percy family]] and bore the Percy arms with slight variation. Fifty years later past the acquisition of the land the castle was built by Gamel de Mulcastre<ref>{{Cite web |title=THE NOBLE AND GENTLE MEN OF ENGLAND. |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/58212/58212-h/58212-h.htm |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref>. The estate was originally 23,000 acres; today it is 1,800 acres. |
|||
[[File:Muncaster Castle morris edited.jpg|thumb|Muncaster Castle circa 1880]]Between 1860 and 1866 [[Anthony Salvin]] extensively remodelled Muncaster Castle for the [[Baron Muncaster|Barons Muncaster]].{{sfn|Emery|1996|p=232}} Sir John Frecheville Ramsden, 6th Baronet discussed proposed modifications to the castle with [[Edwin Lutyens]] from 1916, but nothing came of these; Lutyens did design the [[Muncaster War Memorial]], constructed in 1922, on a commission from Ramsden.<ref name="NHLE-MWM">{{National Heritage List for England |num=1086636 |desc=Muncaster War Memorial and area wall|accessdate=7 September 2016|fewer-links=x}}</ref> |
|||
The Penningtons' association with Muncaster Castle is steeped in historical significance. The most distinguished ancestor, Sir John Pennington, accompanied [[Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland]], on expeditions into Scotland, and was concerned more than once in ‘certain riots and misgovernances in [[Yorkshire]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 44.djvu/344 - Wikisource, the free online library |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Dictionary_of_National_Biography_volume_44.djvu/344 |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=en.wikisource.org |language=en}}</ref> He remained faithful to the house of Lancaster during the [[Wars of the Roses]]. In 1464, Sir John Pennington provided refuge to [[Henry VI of England]] following the [[Battle of Hexham]]. Centuries later, in 1783, [[John Pennington, 1st Baron Muncaster|John Pennington]], Lord Muncaster, erected the Chapels tower to commemorate the spot where the fugitive king was believed to have been found. Legend has it that Henry VI left behind a [[Venetian glass]] bowl as a token of gratitude, with a wish: "As long as this bowl remains unriven, Penningtons from Muncaster never shall be driven".<ref name="Iona" /> The glass, which is still intact, and still at the castle, is now known as "[[Luck of Muncaster]]", ensuring the prosperity of the Pennington family as long as it remained intact.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Muncaster – Monument to Henry VI |url=http://www.visitcumbria.com/wc/muncaster-monument.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109093926/http://www.visitcumbria.com/wc/muncaster-monument.htm |archive-date=9 November 2012 |access-date=27 February 2012}}</ref> |
|||
During the [[Second World War]], some 700 works of art from the [[Tate Gallery]] were transferred to the castle for safe keeping. They included works by [[J. M. W. Turner|Turner]], [[Manet]] and [[Van Gogh]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Haslam |first1=Ian |title=Muncaster Castle's secret wartime art mission |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-68361198 |website=BBC News |access-date=22 February 2024}}</ref> |
|||
The lord of Muncaster was generally a knight until 1676 when he was made a Baronet.<ref>{{Cite web |title=My Family History |url=http://www.kevinskoglund.com/familyhistory/pennington1.html |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=www.kevinskoglund.com}}</ref> [[Baron Muncaster]] was a title in the Peerage of Ireland and in the Peerage of the United Kingdom held by the Pennington family. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Pennington family made advantageous marriages, and in 1783, the fifth Baronet was elevated to the peerage as the first Baron Muncaster. A friend of Pitt and a Member of Parliament, he undertook significant renovations at Muncaster, including the expansion of the library and extensive landscaping projects. |
|||
The family's fortunes were not without controversy, as evidenced by General [[Lowther Pennington, 2nd Baron Muncaster]], who, in his youth, engaged in a fatal duel over a trivial disagreement while serving in America. However, his grandson, [[Gamel Pennington, 4th Baron Muncaster]], commissioned the renowned architect [[Anthony Salvin]] to renovate Muncaster Castle shortly before his death in 1862, shaping much of its present-day appearance.{{sfn|Emery|1996|p=232}} Lord Muncaster died intestate, so while he was succeeded in the peerage by his brother, Josslyn, the Muncaster estates went to Gamel's daughter Margaret.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/e28e7654-cbf2-42ff-8a51-a13e589af7c9 |title=Probates & Copies of Wills etc. and Letters of Administration to the Estates of Members of the Pennington Family |language=English}}</ref> They did pass to Josslyn when she died young in 1871.<ref>{{Citation |title=Villiers, Margaret Elizabeth Child-, Countess of Jersey (1849–1945) |date=2018-02-07 |work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/odnb/9780192683120.013.36658 |access-date=2024-04-27 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> In 1917, with the death of the fifth and last Lord Muncaster without heirs, Sir [[Josslyn Pennington, 5th Baron Muncaster]], the estate passed to Sir John Ramsden, a cousin on his mother's side. Thus ending the [[Pennington (surname)|Pennington]] Baronetcy and creating the Pennington-Ramsden [[Ramsden baronets|Baronetcy]]. Today, the [[National Genealogical Society]] and [[Earlham College]] holds the family's digital files. [[File:Muncaster Castle morris edited.jpg|thumb|Muncaster Castle circa 1880]]During the [[Second World War]], some 700 works of art from the [[Tate Gallery]] were transferred to the castle for safe keeping. They included works by [[J. M. W. Turner|Turner]], [[Manet]] and [[Van Gogh]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Haslam |first1=Ian |title=Muncaster Castle's secret wartime art mission |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-68361198 |website=BBC News |access-date=22 February 2024}}</ref> |
|||
Muncaster's gardens include features designed to take advantage of views of the Esk Valley and the mountains.<ref name="EH">{{NHLE |num=1000669|desc=Muncaster Castle Gardens|accessdate=1 October 2012|fewer-links=x}}</ref> There is an aviary containing owls and other raptor birds from Britain and overseas. There are daily flying displays of these birds. There is an indoor [[maze]] themed on the life of a [[Short-tailed field vole|field vole]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Hawk & Owl flying displays at Muncaster Castle |url=https://www.muncaster.co.uk/hawkowlcentre/flying-displays |website=Muncaster Castle |access-date=2 June 2022 |language=en-gb}}</ref> |
Muncaster's gardens include features designed to take advantage of views of the Esk Valley and the mountains.<ref name="EH">{{NHLE |num=1000669|desc=Muncaster Castle Gardens|accessdate=1 October 2012|fewer-links=x}}</ref> There is an aviary containing owls and other raptor birds from Britain and overseas. There are daily flying displays of these birds. There is an indoor [[maze]] themed on the life of a [[Short-tailed field vole|field vole]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Hawk & Owl flying displays at Muncaster Castle |url=https://www.muncaster.co.uk/hawkowlcentre/flying-displays |website=Muncaster Castle |access-date=2 June 2022 |language=en-gb}}</ref> |
||
Muncaster Castle is still owned by the Pennington family, who have lived at Muncaster for at least 800 years, and a family residence.<ref name="nytimes1985">{{Cite news |last=Goddard |first=Donald |date=28 July 1985 |title=It's All in the Family at Muncaster |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/28/travel/it-s-all-in-the-family-at-muncaster.html |access-date=12 December 2017}}</ref> |
Muncaster Castle is still owned by the Pennington family, who have lived at Muncaster for at least 800 years, and a family residence.<ref name="nytimes1985">{{Cite news |last=Goddard |first=Donald |date=28 July 1985 |title=It's All in the Family at Muncaster |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/28/travel/it-s-all-in-the-family-at-muncaster.html |access-date=12 December 2017}}</ref> Until her death in 2011, Phyllida Gordon-Duff-Pennington and her husband [[Patrick Gordon-Duff-Pennington]] (1930–2021) worked for three decades to restore the castle from a "crumbling relic" and establish it as a place for tourism and events. Since 2021, the owners are Peter and Iona Frost-Pennington, with their elder son Ewan the "Muncaster's operations director".<ref name="Iona">{{Cite news |title='It's a bit too castle-y': plans to turn Cumbrian fortress into eco-attraction |date=26 February 2023 |last=Pidd |first=Helen |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/feb/26/muncaster-castle-plans-cumbria-estate-eco-attraction-carbon-zero |access-date=3 March 2023 }}</ref> It now has more than 90,000 visitors a year.<ref>{{Cite news |date=31 May 2011 |title=Obituary: Phyllida Gordon-Duff-Pennington, châtelaine |language=en |work=The Scotsman |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-phyllida-gordon-duff-pennington-ch-226-telaine-1-1667539 |access-date=12 December 2017}}</ref> |
||
In October 2021, the castle was one of 142 sites across England to receive part of a £35-million injection into the government's [[Culture Recovery Fund]].<ref>[https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/heritage-and-craft-workers-across-england-given-a-helping-hand/ "Heritage and Craft Workers Across England Given a Helping Hand"] – [[Historic England]], 22 October 2021</ref> |
In October 2021, the castle was one of 142 sites across England to receive part of a £35-million injection into the government's [[Culture Recovery Fund]].<ref>[https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/heritage-and-craft-workers-across-england-given-a-helping-hand/ "Heritage and Craft Workers Across England Given a Helping Hand"] – [[Historic England]], 22 October 2021</ref> |
||
| Line 67: | Line 65: | ||
Muncaster hosts the [https://www.parkrun.org.uk/muncastercastle/ Muncaster Castle parkrun] 5k every Saturday morning at 0900. |
Muncaster hosts the [https://www.parkrun.org.uk/muncastercastle/ Muncaster Castle parkrun] 5k every Saturday morning at 0900. |
||
==The Luck of Muncaster== |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | A medieval [[jester]], Thomas Skelton was employed by the Penningtons and is reputed to be the original 'Tom Fool' and the inspiration for |
||
After the [[Battle of Towton]] in 1461, according to tradition, [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] fled to Muncaster Castle where Sir John Pennington sheltered him. Henry gave Sir John a [[Venetian glass]] drinking bowl, with a wish: "As long as this bowl remains unriven, Penningtons from Muncaster never shall be driven".<ref name="Iona"/> The glass, which is still intact, and still at the castle, is now known as "The Luck of Muncaster".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Muncaster – Monument to Henry VI |url=http://www.visitcumbria.com/wc/muncaster-monument.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109093926/http://www.visitcumbria.com/wc/muncaster-monument.htm |archive-date=9 November 2012 |access-date=27 February 2012}}</ref> |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | A medieval [[jester]], Thomas Skelton was employed by the Penningtons and is reputed to be the original 'Tom Fool' and the inspiration for Shakespeare's fool in ''[[King Lear]]''. His portrait hangs in the castle. Skelton is also commemorated in an annual jesting competition held at the castle. Legend has it that Skelton was enlisted by Wild Will of Whitbeck to behead a carpenter's son, Dick, a servant at the castle, who was an unwanted suitor of his betrothed, Helwise Pennington, the unmarried daughter of Sir Alan Pennington. He is rumoured to have said, "There, I have hid Dick’s head under a heap of shavings; and he will not find that so easily, when he awakes, as he did my shillings."<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 30, 2013 |title=Jester competition reveals dark past |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cumbria-22704190 |via=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=November 15, 2016 |title=Thomas Skelton: the murderous jester of Muncaster Castle |url=https://hauntedpalaceblog.wordpress.com/2016/11/15/thomas-skelton-the-murderous-jester-of-muncaster-castle/}}</ref> |
||
==See also== |
==See also== |
||
Revision as of 07:28, 27 April 2024
| Muncaster Castle | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Lake District National Park |
| Coordinates | 54°21′17″N 3°22′51″W / 54.3546554°N 3.3808693°W |
| Area | Cumberland |
| Built | 13th century |
| Rebuilt | 1862–1866 |
| Architect | Anthony Salvin |
| Owner | Private |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Official name | Muncaster Castle |
| Designated | 7 September 1967 |
| Reference no. | 1068780 |
  Location of Muncaster Castle in Cumbria | |
Muncaster Castle is a privately owned castle overlooking the River Esk, about a mile east of the west-coastal town of Ravenglass in Cumbria, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.[1]
History
The place is now corruptly known as "Muncaster", which first appeared in a Cumberland church register in 1577, the original name according to all old evidence and records being "Mulcaster", registered in the pipe rolls of Cumberland circa 1150 (also as Molecaster and Mulecaster in 1190 and 1236 respectively).
The placename "Muncaster" contains the Latin word castra, meaning "encampment", or "fort".[2][further explanation needed] It is suspected that the site of the castle lies on foundations dating to the Roman era, which, if they exist, may represent a castellum for the nearby Roman fort of Glannoventa at Ravenglass.[3]
The Muncaster estate was granted to Alan de Penitone in 1208. The oldest parts of the castle include the Great Hall and the 14th-century pele tower, a type of watch-tower fortification unique to the English-Scottish border region.
Between 1860 and 1866 Anthony Salvin extensively remodelled Muncaster Castle for the Barons Muncaster.[4] Sir John Frecheville Ramsden, 6th Baronet discussed proposed modifications to the castle with Edwin Lutyens from 1916, but nothing came of these; Lutyens did design the Muncaster War Memorial, constructed in 1922, on a commission from Ramsden.[5]
During the Second World War, some 700 works of art from the Tate Gallery were transferred to the castle for safe keeping. They included works by Turner, Manet and Van Gogh.[6]
Muncaster's gardens include features designed to take advantage of views of the Esk Valley and the mountains.[7] There is an aviary containing owls and other raptor birds from Britain and overseas. There are daily flying displays of these birds. There is an indoor maze themed on the life of a field vole.[8]
Muncaster Castle is still owned by the Pennington family, who have lived at Muncaster for at least 800 years, and a family residence.[9] Until her death in 2011, Phyllida Gordon-Duff-Pennington and her husband Patrick Gordon-Duff-Pennington (1930–2021) worked for three decades to restore the castle from a "crumbling relic" and establish it as a place for tourism and events. Since 2021, the owners are Peter and Iona Frost-Pennington, with their elder son Ewan the "Muncaster's operations director".[10] It now has more than 90,000 visitors a year.[11]
In October 2021, the castle was one of 142 sites across England to receive part of a £35-million injection into the government's Culture Recovery Fund.[12]
Muncaster hosts the Muncaster Castle parkrun 5k every Saturday morning at 0900.
The Luck of Muncaster
After the Battle of Towton in 1461, according to tradition, Henry VI fled to Muncaster Castle where Sir John Pennington sheltered him. Henry gave Sir John a Venetian glass drinking bowl, with a wish: "As long as this bowl remains unriven, Penningtons from Muncaster never shall be driven".[10] The glass, which is still intact, and still at the castle, is now known as "The Luck of Muncaster".[13]
Tom Fool
A medieval jester, Thomas Skelton was employed by the Penningtons and is reputed to be the original 'Tom Fool' and the inspiration for Shakespeare's fool in King Lear. His portrait hangs in the castle. Skelton is also commemorated in an annual jesting competition held at the castle. Legend has it that Skelton was enlisted by Wild Will of Whitbeck to behead a carpenter's son, Dick, a servant at the castle, who was an unwanted suitor of his betrothed, Helwise Pennington, the unmarried daughter of Sir Alan Pennington. He is rumoured to have said, "There, I have hid Dick’s head under a heap of shavings; and he will not find that so easily, when he awakes, as he did my shillings."[14][15]
See also
- Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria
- Listed buildings in Muncaster
- List of work on castles and country houses by Anthony Salvin
- Luck of Edenhall
- Castles in England
- List of historic houses in England
References
Citations
- ^ Historic England. "Muncaster Castle (1068780)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
- ^ "Latin Word Lookup". Catholic.archives.nd.edu. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
- ^ "Ruins of a Roman Bath and the Foundations of a Castle – Ravenglass and Muncaster". 30 April 2015.
- ^ Emery 1996, p. 232.
- ^ Historic England. "Muncaster War Memorial and area wall (1086636)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
- ^ Haslam, Ian. "Muncaster Castle's secret wartime art mission". BBC News. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- ^ Historic England. "Muncaster Castle Gardens (1000669)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
- ^ "Hawk & Owl flying displays at Muncaster Castle". Muncaster Castle. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ Goddard, Donald (28 July 1985). "It's All in the Family at Muncaster". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ a b Pidd, Helen (26 February 2023). "'It's a bit too castle-y': plans to turn Cumbrian fortress into eco-attraction". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
- ^ "Obituary: Phyllida Gordon-Duff-Pennington, châtelaine". The Scotsman. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ "Heritage and Craft Workers Across England Given a Helping Hand" – Historic England, 22 October 2021
- ^ "Muncaster – Monument to Henry VI". Archived from the original on 9 November 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
- ^ "Jester competition reveals dark past". 30 May 2013 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Thomas Skelton: the murderous jester of Muncaster Castle". 15 November 2016.
Sources
- Emery, Anthony (1996), Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500, Volume I: Northern England, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521497237
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Muncaster Castle.
- Muncaster Castle website
- Gatehouse Gazetteer record for Muncaster Castle, containing a comprehensive bibliography
- Muncaster Castle and Ravenglass Bath House