Lulworth Castle

History

The foundations for Lulworth Castle were laid in 1588, and it was completed in 1609, supposedly designed by Inigo Jones. It was built as a hunting lodge by Thomas Howard, 3rd Viscount Howard of Bindon, a grandson of the 3rd Duke of Norfolk. In 1607 Viscount Bindon wrote to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, crediting him with the origins of the design:"If this little pile in Lulworth Park shall prove pretty or worth the labour bestowed in the erecting of it, I will acknowledge, as the truth is, that your powerful speech to me at Bindon laid the first foundation of the pile in my mind, which ever since has laboured for a speedy finishing for the contentment of those for whose further liking of that place the care is taken".

According to the NHLE listing, the building was subsequently remodelled 1609-11 for Thomas, Lord Suffolk; remodelled again in 1641 for Humphrey Weld; in the early 18th century by the Bastard brothers of Blandford Forum for the then owner, Edward Weld; and in the 1780s by Catholic architect John Tasker for Thomas Weld. Tasker also built the Roman Catholic chapel in the grounds. Pevsner's assessment of the castle building two hundred years later views it as a Jacobean case of one-upmanship among wealthy landowners whose residential needs are already satisfied elsewhere, hence a series of " 'mock castles', such as the Elizabethan castellated house par excellence that is Longford Castle" which probably inspired Bindon.

Thomas Weld, Edward's youngest son, eventually inherited the property after his eldest brother, also Edward, died as a result of a riding accident in 1775. Twenty-five-year-old Thomas set about refurbishing the interiors in Adam style. He enriched the collection of books in the magnificent library, a few of which are extant. He also entertained George III at Lulworth. Thomas and his wife Mary produced fifteen children, most of whom survived, and together with their descendants were able to retain Lulworth as the family seat into the 21st century.

Following the French Revolution, surviving members of the French royal family were invited to use Lulworth as one of their residences-in-exile. Later Charles X of France and family also stayed there briefly, following the July Revolution of 1830 on their way to Edinburgh.

St Mary's Chapel, Lulworth

Thomas Weld built a Roman Catholic church dedicated to St. Mary to serve as the family chapel in the grounds of the castle in 1786. Pevsner relates that he needed permission from King George III on condition that it did not look like a church from outside. It was to be the first Roman Catholic chapel to be built in England since the time of the Protestant Reformation. It was designed by John Tasker in the form of a Greek mausoleum at a cost of £2,380. The building has been Grade I listed.

On 15 August 1790 John Carroll, an American Jesuit friend of Thomas, was consecrated bishop by Bishop Charles Walmesley, in the chapel of Lulworth Castle. Carroll had been named the first Catholic bishop in the United States (as Bishop of Baltimore) in 1789, and he came to Walmseley for Episcopal Consecration. The next episcopal consecration took place there on 19 December of the same year when John Douglass was consecrated bishop of The London District (which included the home counties, the West Indies with the exception of Trinidad, and the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey) by William Gibson, titular bishop of Acanthus, and Vicar Apostolic of the Northern District.

Restoration

The castle was gutted by fire on 29 August 1929 and was left as a roofless ruin, the family building a new residence for themselves nearby. In the 1970s, restoration work began with the help of English Heritage. The restoration, finished in 1998, included a new roof and restored surviving walls in the interior, but no new internal walls or replacements for the destroyed upper floors were constructed.

In 1986 the Baltimore-born organ builder William Drake restored the 1780 Seede organ at the Roman Catholic Chapel at Lulworth Castle, a project that attracted attention internationally.

The castle is still owned by the Weld family and is a tourist attraction, holding medieval-themed events. Part of the Lulworth Estate is in use as an MoD firing range as well as a wildlife conservation area.

Since 2017, the site has been used as the location for the Bestival music festival, with the castle's foreground being the location for the main "Castle" stage.

References

Bibliography

• C. M. Antony. "Lulworth Castle: Its History and Memories." The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Oct., 1915), pp. 243-257
• Berkeley, J. Lulworth and the Welds. Gillingham: Blackmore, 1971.
• Manco, Jean, Greenhalf, David and Girouard, Mark. "Lulworth Castle in the Seventeenth Century". Architectural History, Vol. 33, (1990), pp. 29–59.
• Manco, Jean and Kelly, Francis. "Lulworth Castle from 1700." Architectural History, Vol. 34, (1991), pp. 145-170
• The Weld family & Lulworth. Wareham: Lulworth Castle. 2004.
• Newth, John. "One of Dorset’s grandest and most interesting country houses - The history of Lulworth Castle is bound up with the stories of the Weld family and of one of the most important estates in South Dorset. John Newth has been to visit.". Dorset Life, April 2015. Wiew on line: https://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2015/04/one-of-dorsets-grandest-and-most-interesting-country-houses/

Gallery

Image:Lulworth Castle LCCN2017659723.jpg|Lulworth Castle in the park Image:Lulworth Castle, Triangular Lodges - geograph.org.uk - 505210.jpg|Lulworth Castle, Triangular Lodges Image:Lulworth Castle stables (1932).jpg|Lulworth Castle stables (1932) Image:Lulworth Castle Interior 032.jpg| Roof from interior Image:Lulworth Castle Interior 01.jpg| Castle Interior Image:Lulworth Castle Interior 04.jpg| Castle kitchen Image:Lulworth Castle Interior 03.jpg|Castle vaulted cellar

References

1. {{NHLE. (26 October 1954)
2. {{NHLE
3. "About the Estate". Lulworth, Dorset Estate.
4. {{NHLE
5. Hutchins, John. (1861). "The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset". John Bowyer Nichols and Sons.
6. ''HMC 9 Salisbury Hatfield'', vol. 20 (London, 1968), p. 204.
7. (1972). "Dorset Buildings of England - Pevsner buildings of England". Yale University Press.
8. Akira, Hirano. (2013). "Treasures of the Library". The Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Art and Culture - University of East Anglia.
9. Nagel, Susan. (2008). "Marie-Thérèse: The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter". Bloomsbury.
10. {{NHLE. (20 November 1959)
11. [https://books.google.com/books?id=spHNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA60 The American Catholic quarterly review, Volume 14] Lulworth Chapel, Bishop Carroll and Bishop Walmesley
12. [https://books.google.com/books?id=9uVNAQAAMAAJ&q=The+Old+Chapter Ward, Bernard. ''Catholic London a Century Ago'', Catholic Truth Society, 1905, p. 62]
13. (31 August 2009). "Lulworth Castle exhibition will recall a fateful day". [[Bournemouth Echo]].
14. "The National Pipe Organ Register - NPOR".
15. (27 April 2009). "James Weld: keeping it local". Dorset Magazine.