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==History== |
==History== |
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Mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]], the present house was started in 1497. [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] and [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]] were regular visitors to the Manor House. |
Mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]], the manor of Lullingstone was acquired in 1279 by [[Gregory de Rokesley]], who served eight terms as [[Lord Mayor of London]]. The present house was started in 1497 by Sir John Peche, High Sheriff of Kent for 1494-95 and later (1509) joint [[Lord Deputy of Calais]]. [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] and [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]] were regular visitors to the Manor House. The Tudor gatehouse, also built by Sir John Peche, is believed to be one of the first in England entirely of brick.<ref name="English Manor Houses">{{cite web|url=http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/manor%20houses/lullingstone%20castle.htm|title=English Manor Houses-Lullingstone Castle|publisher=theheritagetrail.co.uk|accessdate=2009-10-18}}</ref> |
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In 1522 the estate passed by marriage to his nephew, Sir Percyval Hart, chief sewer and knight harbinger to King Henry VIII, King Edward VI, Queen Mary I, and Queen Elizabeth I. He died in 1580 and the estate passed to his grandson, [[Percival Hart (16th-century MP)|Sir Percival Hart]] and thence to the latter's great-grandson, yet another [[Percival Hart]], who was [[High Sheriff of Kent]] in 1706, who remodelled the house and renamed it Lullingstone Castle. He left one daughter, Anne, who in turn married John Bluet and Sir Thomas Dyke, 2nd Bt. <ref> {{cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol2/pp539-552|title=Lullingstone|publisher=British History Online|accessdate= 5 March 2019}} </ref> |
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The Tudor gatehouse, built by Sir John Peche, who became [[Sheriff of Kent]] in 1495, is believed to be one of the first in England entirely of brick.<ref name="English Manor Houses">{{cite web|url=http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/manor%20houses/lullingstone%20castle.htm|title=English Manor Houses-Lullingstone Castle|publisher=theheritagetrail.co.uk|accessdate=2009-10-18}}</ref> What survives of the house is largely of the Queen Anne era. |
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In 1934 the estate was sold to Kemp Town Brewery, who resold it to Kent County Council in 1938. It was occupied by the Army during World War II. In the mid-1960's Dartford Rural District council laid out a golf course in the grounds and created a public park. The castle itself remains in the hands of the Hart-Dyke family. What survives of the building today dates largely from the Queen Anne era.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Lullingstone Castle|num= 1001687|grade=II|accessdate=5 March 2018}}</ref> |
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==Castle and gardens== |
==Castle and gardens== |
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Revision as of 20:06, 5 March 2019
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Lullingstone Castle is an historic manor house, set in an estate in the village of Lullingstone and the civil parish of Eynsford in the English county of Kent. It has been inhabited by members of the Hart Dyke family for twenty generations including current owner Guy Hart Dyke.[1]
History
Mentioned in the Domesday Book, the manor of Lullingstone was acquired in 1279 by Gregory de Rokesley, who served eight terms as Lord Mayor of London. The present house was started in 1497 by Sir John Peche, High Sheriff of Kent for 1494-95 and later (1509) joint Lord Deputy of Calais. Henry VIII and Queen Anne were regular visitors to the Manor House. The Tudor gatehouse, also built by Sir John Peche, is believed to be one of the first in England entirely of brick.[2]
In 1522 the estate passed by marriage to his nephew, Sir Percyval Hart, chief sewer and knight harbinger to King Henry VIII, King Edward VI, Queen Mary I, and Queen Elizabeth I. He died in 1580 and the estate passed to his grandson, Sir Percival Hart and thence to the latter's great-grandson, yet another Percival Hart, who was High Sheriff of Kent in 1706, who remodelled the house and renamed it Lullingstone Castle. He left one daughter, Anne, who in turn married John Bluet and Sir Thomas Dyke, 2nd Bt. [3]
In 1934 the estate was sold to Kemp Town Brewery, who resold it to Kent County Council in 1938. It was occupied by the Army during World War II. In the mid-1960's Dartford Rural District council laid out a golf course in the grounds and created a public park. The castle itself remains in the hands of the Hart-Dyke family. What survives of the building today dates largely from the Queen Anne era.[4]
Castle and gardens
The surrounding 120-acre (49 ha) park was previously a fenced deer park, with the castle serving as a hunting lodge. The grounds are located on the River Darent and hidden within are Queen Anne's bathhouse and an icehouse dating from the 18th century. Most of the grounds of the former estate now constitute Lullingstone Country Park.
It also contains some of the oldest oak trees in Britain, wildflowers, a church (St Botolph's) of Norman and possibly earlier foundation but much later restoration and rebuilding, and a walled garden, and used to contain Lullingstone Roman Villa.
Zoe Dyke created the Lullingstone Silk Farm here which was visited by Queen Mary and as a result it created silk for the coronation robe of King George VI. The farm has since moved away but has produced silk for other important Royal events including the Wedding dress of Princess Elizabeth and the Wedding dress of Lady Diana Spencer.[5]
In 2011, the Castle was the location for the Comparethemarket.com advert 'Tough decision',[6] featuring meerkats Sergei and Aleksandr.
The walled garden - previously a herb garden designed by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde - has recently been converted into the World Garden of Plants by the Castle's current heir (and 20th generation of the Hart Dyke's), plant hunter Tom Hart Dyke. That conversion was the subject of the BBC2 series Save Lullingstone Castle. Tom Hart Dyke and the World Garden were again featured in Spring 2007 on the BBC2 series, Return to Lullingstone Castle.[7] The garden and the castle are open to the public from April through to September.[8]
Gallery
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St Botolph's Church in the grounds of Lullingstone Castle -
View inside Lullingstone Country Park -
Wire baobab tree at World Garden of Plants -
The Castle entrance -
The castle in its landscape context
Notes
- ^ "Lullingstone Castle and the World Garden-Visit Kent". visitkent.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
- ^ "English Manor Houses-Lullingstone Castle". theheritagetrail.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
- ^ "Lullingstone". British History Online. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
- ^ Historic England. "Lullingstone Castle (Grade II) (1001687)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
- ^ Times, Terry Trucco, Special To The New York (1986-05-30). "HOME-GROWN SILK FOR A ROYAL WEDDING". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Meerkats move into Lullingstone". Lullingstonecastle.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-09-19.
- ^ "Return to Lullingstone Castle". kent.gov.uk. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
- ^ "Lullingstone Castle (Kent)". gardens-guide.com. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
External links
51°21′31″N 0°11′45″E / 51.3585°N 0.1959°E