Castle Howard, Malton, North Yorkshire, England

Castle Howard is set in over 2,400 hectares of land, comprising agricultural land, woodland, a landscape park and a diverse series of gardens. To the south-west of the house lies the Walled Garden. To the south lies the formal South Parterre, and to the east is Ray Wood, an informal woodland. There are lakes on either side of the house, and there are many statues and several garden buildings throughout the gardens.

Beyond the gardens lies the landscape park which surrounds the house on three sides. Within the landscape park can be found the Mausoleum and the Avenue, which has a collection of ornamental gateways leading into the park. There is also an arboretum, which is called 'Kew' at Castle Howard.  It is close to the house but has separate entrance arrangements and was opened in 1999.

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

NOTE: This entry is a summary. Because of the complexity of this site, the standard Register entry format would convey neither an adequate description nor a satisfactory account of the development of the landscape. The user is advised to consult the references given below for more detailed accounts. Many Listed Buildings exist within the site, not all of which have been here referred to. Descriptions of these are to be found in the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest produced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

SHORT DESCRIPTION

Gardens, pleasure grounds and park with a mixture of geometric and less formal features developed around 1698-1738 by Charles Howard, third Earl of Carlisle and Sir John Vanbrugh (1664-1726 ) possibly with some advice from Stephen Switzer (1682-1745). The monumental scale and conception of the landscape with structures designed by Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor make Castle Howard an outstanding example of what Christopher Hussey has described as the Heroic Age of English landscape architecture, and the adoption of an informal design, possibly by Switzer, for Ray Wood has been seen as decisively important for the development of the 'natural' style in England.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Castle Howard lies about 20 kilometres north-east of York in a rural and agricultural setting. The roughly 1240 hectare site is on high rolling land and the boundaries are fenced and walled.

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

C Campbell, Vitruvius Britannicus. 3, (1725), pp 5-6

Society of Gentlemen, England Displayed 2, (1769), pp 144, 147

A Young, Six Month's Tour Through North of England (1771), pp 60-2

W Angus, Seats of the nobility and gentry (1787), plate 3

Duke of Rutland, Journal of a Tour to the Northern Parts of Great Britain (1813), pp 101-7

E A Brooke, Gardens of England (1857), plates 33-4

Gardeners' Chronicle 2, (1890), pp 321-2

Country Life, 16 (1 October 1904), pp 486-95; 20 (6 October 1906), pp 492-4; 61 (4 June 1927), pp 884-93; 62 (6 August 1927), pp 200-8; (13 August 1927), pp 230-7; 156 (12 September 1974), p 694; 173 (17 March 1983), p 636; no 2 (11 January 1990), pp 62-5

C Holme, Gardens of England in Midland and Eastern Counties (1908), plates 25-8

G Jekyll, Garden Ornament (1918), pp 241, 244

Lady Rockley, Historic Gardens of England (1938), pp 180-1

L Whistler, The Imagination of Vanbrugh and his Fellow Artists (1954), plates 19-20

J Evelyn, Diary 4, (1955), pp 593-4

K Downes, Hawksmoor (1969), pp 47-51, 173-4, 190-206

M Binney & A Hills, Elysian Gardens (1979), pp 15, 37

Antiqs J 58 (part 2), (1979), pp 358-60

J Summerson, Architecture in Britain 1530-1830 (revised and enlarged 1983), pp 280-3

G Beard, John Vanbrugh (1986), pp 31-7, 83-93

G & S Jellicoe et al, The Oxford Companion to Gardens (1986), pp 98-9

Castle Howard, guidebook, (1997)

Maps [all held in a private collection]

Estate map, 1694

Estate map, 1727

N Hawksmoor, Plan of Henderskelfe, no date, around 1700 [See also Whistler 1954]

OS Map

OS 6" to 1 mile: 3rd edition published 1912
 

Description written: September 1998

Amended: October 2004

Edited: October 1999