Lowther Castle, Penrith, England

The gardens were developed during the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

Features include tree lined avenues, a formal garden which is now overgrown, and a walled garden which is now the Lakeland Bird of Prey Centre. 

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. 

Parkland of the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries with medieval origins and a late 17th/early 18th century avenue, a terrace with early 18th century or earlier origins, and an early 19th century terrace and forecourt by Robert Smirke.

DESCRIPTION

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Lowther Castle is situated about 5 kilometres south of Penrith in an area which is rural and agricultural. The site, which occupies about 600 hectares, is on land which slopes down to the River Lowther on the north and west sides. The northern and eastern boundaries of the registered site are generally formed by woodland: on the north-west side by Heining Bank, immediately north of Askham, an avenue on the west edge of Yanwath Wood and the southern and eastern part of Yanwath Wood. The boundary then follows the outer edge of Horseholme Wood to the north, and part of Buckholme Wood and Buckholme Slip to the north-east. To the south-east the boundary is defined first by the road between Newtown and Lowther village and then, turning south, the outer edge of Boonby Plantation. The southern boundary is formed by a track running along the edge of Decoy Hag and Rowlandfield to the hamlet of Whale. From this point the western boundary is formed by the east bank of the River Lowther as far as Askham. A public road runs through the park between Askham and Newtown.

REFERENCES

Knyff & Kip, Britannia Illustrata (1707), pl 41

F O Morris, A Series of Picturesque Views 2, (1866-1880), pl 65

H I Triggs, Formal Gardens in England and Scotland (1902), p 42

C Holme, Gardens of England in Northern Counties (1911), pls 87-93

A Short History of Lowther and the Lowther Family, guidebook, (nd, pre 1939)

J Harris, The Artist and the Country House (1979), p 153

H Colvin, J Mordaunt Crook & T Friedman, Architectural Drawings from Lowther Castle Westmorland, (Soc of Architectural Historians of Great Britain 1980)

Garden History 21, no 2 (1993), pp 217-226

Lowther Park Historic Landscape and Management Plan, (Capsticks 1995)

Maps

Survey plan of Lowther after the fire of 1718, in Colvin et al 1980, pl 5

L Brown, A Plan for the intended Alterations at Lowther Hall, 1763, in Colvin et al 1980, pls 19-20

T Jeffreys, The County of Westmorland, 1770

J Webb, A Plan of the Park and Demesne Lands at Lowther, 1807, in Capsticks 1995

C & J Greenwood, Map of the County of Westmorland, 1824

Estate maps of 1685 and 1732 are discussed and partially transcribed in Capsticks 1995

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition surveyed 1859

    2nd edition published 1898

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition surveyed 1860

Archival items

The Lowther papers (D/Lons) are held by the Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle

Description written: August 1997

Amended: June 1998

Edited: March 1999