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Grimsthorpe
and Grimsthorpe Castle
The
village of Grimsthorpe is situated four miles north west of Bourne on the
A151 and is best known for the historic house, Grimsthorpe Castle. This is the
grandest stately home in Lincolnshire dating back to the 12th century and in 1516, Henry VIII granted the manor to the 10th Baron Willoughby de Eresby on his marriage to Maria de Salinas, kinswoman and lady-in-waiting to the Queen, Catherine of Aragon and it is still the home of the de Eresby family today.
The castle is a mix of architectural styles, having been extensively altered during the 18th century by Sir John Vanbrugh, who embraced the concepts of mediaeval decorativeness and neo-gothic design. The North Front was his last work and was commissioned in 1715 by his friend Robert Bertie, the 16th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, to celebrate his enoblement as the first Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven.
The oldest part of the building is the south-east corner of the castle called King John's Tower which dates back to 1199-1216 while the parkland was landscaped by Capability Brown in 1771. The formal flower and topiary garden leads imperceptibly into a woodland area and provides a fine setting for the ornamental vegetable garden and orchard, created in the 1960s by the Countess of Ancaster and John Fowler.
The early history of the house is connected with the Cistercian Abbey of Vaudy, founded in 1147, which once stood to the south of the lake and the castle built in the late 13th century by Gilbert de Gant, and monks from the monastery are believed to be buried in the churchyard at nearby Creeton.
The main state rooms and the chapel at Grimsthorpe are all furnished with many objects of rare, artistic and historical interest, including coronation robes, chairs and canopies of George I-IV and Queen Victoria,
and are open to view. Paintings by Van Dyck, Holbein and Reynolds are among the most notable pictures together with the Auwerx tapestries in the state dining room.
The collection of fine furniture associated with the Willoughby de Eresby's hereditary office as Lord Great Chamberlain to the Palace of Westminster, including thrones and furnishings from the old House of Lords, can be seen in the suite of state rooms along with family portraits and those of the monarchs they served.
Grimsthorpe has been the location for several major television productions and is a popular place with visitors. The castle is the centrepiece of a 3,000 acre park of rolling pastures, landscaped lakes and historic woodland and the mediaeval deer park and
Tudor oak park are crossed by fine avenues of trees that are a haven for wild life.
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GRIMSTHORPE IN PAST
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This rare image is one of many views of
Grimsthorpe taken by the Bourne photographer William Redshaw
(1846-1943) showing the main entrance to Grimsthorpe Castle before
the avenue of trees was removed. |
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This photograph was almost certainly taken in
the years immediately before the Great War of 1914-18 with an
organised group in their Sunday best visiting Grimsthorpe in high
summer because it is a sunny day and they are all crowding round
the main door waiting to go in. Such a visit was made on Sunday
28th July 1907 with permission from the Earl of Ancaster by the
Aveland District Association of [Diocesan] Guilds whose members
first attended a service in the chapel and then had tea before
going on a tour of the castle. This photograph could have been
from that event but then it could also have been one of many other
similar occasions during that period although it does appear to be
the work of William Redshaw. |
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Two picture postcards of Grimsthorpe Castle
(above), a colour view published circa 1935 and the sepia print
from circa 1950. The two photographs of the lake in the park (below)
were taken
around 1900 by William Redshaw. |
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A postcard picture of the lake taken circa
1920 which would have been sold to visitors
stopping at the castle or the village. |
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Another picture of the castle and
lake with cattle grazing
taken from a postcard used in 1922. |
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The castle grounds were used for grazing
sheep when this picture was taken circa 1882 by Richard Bertolle,
the photographer with a studio in Bourne. The three later postcard
pictures below date from circa 1916. |
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A rare photograph of the Black Horse public
house in Grimsthorpe village with visitors arriving by horse drawn
carriages, probably taken around 1880. |
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Grimsthorpe village from a postcard view by
William Redshaw. |
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Picture postcard showing cows being herded
through Grimsthorpe village in 1916. |
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FROM THE ARCHIVES |
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A girl named Jane Green, servant to the Rev J D
Giles, of Grimsthorpe, drowned herself in the lake in the park near the
reverend gentleman's house on Tuesday last. No idea of her intention
existed in the family and it was not until after some portion of her dress
was found near the water that the suicidal act was suspected. Immediately
on this discovery an alarm was given and steps were taken to find the
body. It was soon brought up from the bottom of the lake through the
intrepidity of Mr Parker, a pupil of Mr Giles, who is an expert swimmer
and diver. Some love matter is supposed to have been the cause of the rash
act. An inquest was held on the body on Wednesday by Mr Jennings, coroner.
- news report from the Stamford Mercury, Friday 8th September 1843
Lord Willoughby de Eresby, in addition to his usual liberality to the
poor of Edenham, Bytham, and adjoining parishes in which he has property,
has this season purchased a very large supply of rice which he has ordered
to be sold to the poor at half-price; and has caused to be distributed
some excellent recipes for economically applying it to domestic uses. -
news item from the Stamford Mercury, Friday 1st January 1847.
Grimsthorpe was a place of great attraction on Sunday last: lots of
visitors were attracted by a ponderous stone weighing 22 or 23 tons which
had been conveyed thither on a machine made for the purpose and drawn by
27 horses. It is intended for a fountain which Lord Willoughby has lately
erected in front of the mansion and which, when completed, will add much
to the dignity of its appearance.
- news report from the Stamford Mercury, Friday 4th June 1847. |
See also
The Earl of
Ancaster Lady Jane Willoughby
Thomas Linley
A History of Grimsthorpe
Castle by Joseph J Davies
A housewife at the Great
Exhibition of 1851
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