Description

NY 52 SW LOWTHER LOWTHER

12/137 Lowther Castle
6.2.68
II*

Country house built as sham castle, now a ruin without roof. 1806-14 on site of
medieval hall, by Sir Robert Smirke for 1st Earl of Lonsdale. Calciferous
sandstone ashlar with string course and battlemented parapets. Tall central
square stair tower behind, and projecting above, 3-storey, 3-bay centre flanked
by 2-storey, 3-bay wings. Low flanking recessed 3-bay links to 2-storey, 3-bay
end pavilions; each angle with either a circular or octagonal turret. Central
porte-cochere has pointed arches under tracery stone panels, battlemented
parapet and octagonal, panelled turrets. Central bays have mixed fenestration
of 4-light Tudor window over porch and pointed-arched windows. Ground floor
pointed-arched tracery windows in wings under 2-light Tudor-style windows.
Pavilions have 2-light Tudor-style windows. All windows now without tracery or
mullions. House was closed in 1935 (it had over 260 rooms and had cost £77,000)
and partly used as a tank training range during World War II. Contents sold in
1947 and roof removed 1957. See Colvin, Crook & Friedman, Architectural
Drawings from Lowther Castle, 1980: Transactions Cumberland & Westmorland
Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, new series, lxxxi, pp.122-136 and lxxxiv,
pp.191-204. See also D. Sutherland, The Yellow Earl, 1965, for the later
history of the castle.

Listing NGR: NY5214823802

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Lowther Castle at Wikipedia
• Lowther Castle official website
• Wikidata Q6694181

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)