Old Wardour Castle

5^th August 2012 

If you want to see the big picture, you're going to have to go to Google maps :-)

So, to help Cal get over her jet lag it was off for another adventure outside – hopefully there would be some sunshine to help. So, the dilemma: what was close to Salisbury that we had not visited yet, and that would be interesting enough not to put Cal to sleep? And the answer: Old Wardour Castle – just 15.7 miles from home (if you travel with Google, and type in “Old Wardour”) or 17.8 miles and an extra few miles of twisty mazes and passages on single track roads . . . if you use the prescribed postcode (SP3 6RR), hmmmm, too bad.

Along the way we passed through Ansty – a place where Cal’s Mum has a friend – so we had to stop and look at the swans and cygnets on the pond in the middle of the town. 

Old Wardour Castle, near Tisbury was built in the 14th century as a lightly fortified luxury residence for comfortable living and lavish entertainment. The castle was badly damaged in action during the English Civil War in the mid 17^th century, and then rather than being rebuilt, was turned into a “romantic ruin” as part of the landscaped 18^th century grounds of New Wardour House. The castle was used in the move Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (think as the ancestral castle of Robin, that was destroyed whilst Robin was on a Crusade).

So, the above paragraph was the abridged history (with a modern day anchor with Kevin Costner). For those interested in the history just read on. For those that aren’t, just look at the pretty pictures :-). The above picture doesn’t really do justice to the state of the castle, which is really not that bad (all things considering – we were able to get to the top of the tower!!)

So, we got to the castle just in time for a quick bite to eat (along with a Fredo Frog and a Caramello Koala – recent arrivals with Cal). After that it was off for an explore of the “romantic ruin”.

 The original castle dates back to 1392 when Baron Lovell was granted permission by Richard II to build a castle. It was inspired by the hexagonal castles that were in fashion in France, but this is the only one in Britain – it is also unique for the fact that it has several self-contained guest suites (luxery!!!). After a falling out with Richard III (don’t mention the word treason), the castle was confiscated (he just wanted the guest suites). It was passed to Sir Thomas Arundell in 1544, who became the 1st Lord Arundell of Wardour (OK, so he had to buy the castle). The Arundells were staunch Roman Catholics (and wealthy land owners), so they were naturally Royalists in the English Civil War.

 

During that conflict, in 1643, Thomas Arundell, (the 2^nd Lord Arundell) was away fighting for the King when his wife, Lady Blanche Arundell, aged 61, had to defend the castle with a garrison of 25 men against 1300 Parliamentarians. The Parliamentarians used guns on the walls and attempted to undermine them with mines. After five days the castle was threatened with complete destruction and Lady Blanche agreed to surrender. In the mean time, Lord Thomas Arundell had died of his wounds after the Battle of Lansdowne, and his son, Henry, now the 3^rd Lord, less than a year later, laid siege to his own castle, reluctantly blowing much of it up and caused the Parliamentary garrison to surrender. No wonder there was so much destruction.

After the return of the monarchy, rather than rebuild the castle, the family decided to build a new “castle” (actually, in stylistic terms, the New Castle is not a castle at all, but a symmetrical neoclassical country house with a main block built around a central staircase hall and two flanking wings . . . thank you Mr Google and Wikipeadia – I’d never have made that up :-)). You can see the “new” castle from Old Wardour.

 

Back to Old Wardour . . . which was left as an ornamental feature in the surrounding parklands – designed by Capability Brown, a very much renowned 18^th century landscape gardener . . . well, don’t forget the scale was a bit different, we’re not talking about a ¼ acre block, rather tens of acres. We also finally discovered that “Capability” Brown’s real name was Lancelot Brown – who was nick named Capability, for his ability to use the natural features of the surroundings. His gardens are in some of the most amazing places, Blenheim Palace, Hampton Court Palace, Kew Gardens, Warwick Castle, Chatsworth . . .

One last little titbit. In the late 1800’s the kids of one of the Lords used to dress up as commoners and act as guides to the ruins – charging the tourists to take them around. The boys used to share the spoils, whilst the sister got nothing except pinched cheeks (used to make her look more gaunt or some such thing). Of course it wouldn’t be complete without a few photos with flowers in them.

After Old Wardour, it was off for a half pint at a Badger pub in Shaftesbury (to get our books stamped), followed by at least another pub on the way home (for more stamps) . . . the memory is a bit flakey along the way :-).