Visit to Lowther Castle, Penrith - 29th January 2019

The Courtyard at Lowther Castle

On a snowy winter’s day, we travelled from school to Lowther Castle and met the Creative Conversations group again. Cassie gave a short talk about the history of the Castle and Lowther family.

She told us that the Lowther family has been on-site since as early as the 12^th century. A man named Dolfin, who is believed to be of Viking descent was the first to build on this land in 1150. He chose the area for its beauty and wildlife. The name Lowther comes from Old Norse meaning ‘foaming river’.

The building was then renovated and improved in 1691, making it Lowther Hall. This was a much grander home with beautiful gardens to compliment it. Unfortunately, the building did not last long as it burnt down in 1718 due to the chimneys not being swept. It remained a charred shell and when the then owner Richard Lowther died in 1751 without an heir, the estates passed to his cousin

James Lowther (known as Wicked Jimmy), which included the coal fields around Whitehaven and West Cumbria.

The coalfields had come into the family in the 17^th century when Sir Christopher Lowther, second son of Sir John Lowther II took on the manor of St Bees. An entrepreneur he had a career in trade sending many goods including coal to Ireland. After his dealth, the estates were passed to his son – also John – Sir John Lowther (1642 – 1705) – although he suffered from ill health and lived in London, he was involved in the mining industry and introduced many innovations, one being the cartways to move coal. 

Coal wagon on rails - cartways

 

We had learned from our visit to the Beacon that coal from the coal pits around Whitehaven had earned Sir James Lowther £40000 a year (£8 million now) and in 1761 he married Lady Mary Stuart, herself a coal heiress.

With this wealth, the castle was re-built in 1806 and is the current building you see now. It took around 6 years to rebuild and cost £77,000 (which in today’s money is around £6 million). The castle had 365 rooms and was spectacular to see.

Huge amounts of money was spent – one room was lined in mohair – panelling was guilded in gold and ceilings painted by the best money could buy – Antonio Verrio – who had worked at Versailles, Windsor and Hampton Court.

silver on show at exhibition

One visitor around this time in 1809 was Joseph M.W. Turner RA who stayed as a guest for approximately a month. His painting of the Castle is included in the exhibition. 

Stencil design from wall in yellow room

The last earl to live at the castle was the 5^th Earl (also known as the Yellow Earl).

He was a very flamboyant man who loved to live the life of luxury. He was called the Yellow Earl because he loved the colour so much. Everything was yellow, including his cars and dogs.

He was the chairman of the car rescue service, the AA, who have made their trademark colour and logo, yellow.

Due to the Earl’s spending the bank account was more or less empty and in the 1930s, his trustees suggested he and his wife could no longer live in the castle.

During the second world war in 1942, the Castle was requisitioned by the army who spent three years experimenting with a secret weapon – the Canal Defence Light. This light mounted on the tank’s turret was 13 million candlepower and with its particular arc would blind the enemy enabling friendly forces to move unseen. 

When Lancelot Lowther inherited in 1944 following death of Yellow Earl, the estate finances were on their knees. The house had dry rot and damp and the gardens had overgrown. He was not a young man and post war, he decided the contents should be sold. 

picture from exhibition showing furniture being removed from great hall to be sold

 

In 1947 over four months the largest country house sale at the time saw 7689 lots put under the hammer and dispersed forever.

In 1953 James Lowther (Earl of Lonsdale) inherited the estate from his grandfather. The castle was going to ruin, the gardens were a wilderness. With a £25 million inheritance bill, he tried to sell the castle but the people of Penrith objected. To reduce costs he opted for partial demolition and removal of the roof and the land was used for agriculture and forestry. 

pictures showing main building roof removed

In 2006 Lord Lonsdale sold the castle to his son Jim Lowther for £1. The Castle and grounds are now undergoing a major restoration and in 2011 opened for the first time since 1938. 

picture from exhibition showing start of renovation

The gardens are open to the public with routes covering 130 acres. It is well worth a visit but sadly when we were there, due to snowy paths we did not venture into the gardens.  However, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit and after spending time in the exhibition, we all returned to the stables where we ate our lunch before returning back to Carlisle and Distington. 

fire pit in courtyard featuring dragon from Lowther shield