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Helmsley Castle in the 18th and 19th Centuries: The Romantic Ruin (1700…
Helmsley Castle in the 18th and 19th Centuries: The Romantic Ruin (1700-1900)
Key People
Charles Duncombe (banker and Mayor of London)
Bought castle for £90,000
Main residence Downton in Wiltshire but must've stayed at Helmsley when in north
When died, left castle to brother-in-law and business partner Thomas Browne (changed name to Thomas Duncombe)
Thomas Duncombe
Thought Tudor Mansion was unsuitable residence so built Duncombe Park (baroque country house set in former parks of medieval castle and lands of Rievaulx Abbey)
Castle became romantic backdrop for Duncombe Park
William Ernest Slingsby Duncombe, Lord Feversham (Thomas' grandson) employed Charles Barry (architect of Houses of Parliament) for alterations to Duncombe Park in 1843-47
2 fires devastated house at Duncombe Park in 1879 and 1895 and was rebuilt to original designs
Changes to Physical Features
Castle remained how it was after English Civil War
Ruined East Tower
Partially dismantled curtain wall
Roof of Tudor Mansion and Latrine Tower unmaintained
Rubble in all ditches
Walled garden (south-west of castle) established in 1758
By 19th Century area between south-west range and East Tower levelled to make lawn tennis court
Photographs from time show flattened grass halfway up ground floor doors and windows of Tudor Mansion
Ring for tethering horse still visible very high up Latrine Tower
Shows how high ground was compared to now
Chicken run also housed at castle
Graffiti on inside of South Barbican entrance
Shows visitors carved date of visit to stone
By end of 19th Century
Little left of Tudor Mansion
Latrine Tower roofless
Medieval ruins covered in ivy
Trees growing in ditches and interior
Site Evidence
Paintings of ruin
'Picturesque movement'
Painted by JMW Turner
Photographic evidence
Pageants (Wesleyan Day School)
Primrose League
Tennis court (ground much higher)
Evidence of horse tether high up Tudor Mansion
Use and Purpose
Not main residence of Duncombe family
Either resident in London or Duncombe Park once built
Artists painted castle as romantic location
Picturesque movement of 18th Century saw many artists travelling to paint and sketch beautiful locations
JMW Turner has sketches of Helmsley in sketchbook
Parish events held at castle arranged by Charles Norris Grey (vicar of Helmsley) from 1870 to death
Fetes
Historical pageants in 1897 and 1898
Agricultural show
Tennis tournament
10th North Riding of Yorkshire Rifle Volunteer Company drilled at castle in 1876
Some political demonstrations took place at castle
One arranged by Primrose League (Conservative organisation) in grounds of castle in 1898
Local people might picnic at castle
Local people employed to maintain castle
Not as conservation of building (just to cut grass etc..)
Links to National Events
Romantic/picturesque movement
fashion for ruined 'follies'
Gothic revival
Comparisons to Other Sites
Pickering
Also fell into disrepair
Alnwick
Altered to turn into gothic style building
Terrace created for viewing of scenery
Lavish Italian style accommodation added in 19th Century
Remained a home
Scarborough
Fell into disrepair
Used as barracks in 1745-46
From 1880s used for tourism
Grounds used for archery