Clearwell Castle

Last updated

Clearwell Castle
ClearwellCastle.JPG
"a Gothick Revival castle, the earliest in England"
TypeHouse
Location Clearwell, Gloucestershire, England
Coordinates 51°46′00″N2°37′27″W / 51.7667°N 2.6243°W / 51.7667; -2.6243
Built1727-1728
Architect Roger Morris
Architectural style(s) Gothic Revival
Governing bodyPrivately owned
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameClearwell Castle
Designated24 September 1984
Reference no.1186324
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameClearwell Castle main gateway and flanking lodges
Designated24 September 1984
Reference no.1299253
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameClearwell Castle gatehouse and flanking stables
Designated24 September 1984
Reference no.1299254
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameClearwell Castle statue of a man about 30M west of main front on right, facing house
Designated24 September 1984
Reference no.1186327
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameClearwell Castle statue of child and sphinx, about 30M west of main front on left, facing house
Designated24 September 1984
Reference no.1186326
Gloucestershire UK relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Location of Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire

Clearwell Castle in Clearwell, the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, is a Gothic Revival house constructed from 1727. Built by Thomas Wyndham to the designs of Roger Morris, it is the earliest Georgian Gothic Revival castle in England predating better-known examples such as Strawberry Hill House by over twenty years. A home of the Wyndham family for some 150 years, the first half of the twentieth century saw a disastrous fire, and subsequent asset-stripping, which brought the castle close to ruination. Slowly restored from 1954, in the 1970s the castle housed a recording studio used by, among other major bands, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Bad Company, Queen and Sweet. Now operating as a wedding venue, the castle is a Grade II* listed building.

Contents

History

Charles Wyndham (later Edwin) and his son Thomas Wyndham in 1775 Thomas Wyndham with his father Charles Edwin Wyndham.jpg
Charles Wyndham (later Edwin) and his son Thomas Wyndham in 1775

Thomas Wyndham (1686–1752), the son of Francis Wyndham, a wealthy landowner, and Sarah Darell, was educated at Eton and the University of Cambridge, and became a barrister and later a Member of Parliament. [1] He married twice; firstly to his cousin Jane Wyndham, daughter and heir of William Wyndham of Dunraven Castle in South Wales, secondly to Anne Edwin, daughter of Samuel Edwin of Llanmihangel Place, Glamorgan. Both marriages brought Wyndham considerable wealth. [2] [1] In 1727, he began the construction of a new house, then titled Clearwell Court, on the site of an earlier house. [3] Alistair Rowan suggests that construction was undertaken in two phases, the main frontage in the first building period of 1727–1728, and the rear of the house, with the library on the ground floor and bedrooms above, after his second marriage in the 1730s. [2]

After Wyndham's death in 1752, the court was inherited by the eldest son of his second marriage, Charles Wyndham (1731–1801). In 1762 Charles married Eleanor Rooke. The couple had one son, Thomas Wyndham (1763–1814). [4] In about 1775 Charles had his portrait painted with his son Thomas who was then about 12 years old. At about the same time he commissioned an etching of Clearwell Court which shows both the house and the stable. Charles died in 1801 and his son Thomas inherited the court. In 1787 he had married Anna Ashby. Of their two children, only the daughter, Caroline, (1789–1870), survived to adulthood. [5] In 1810 Caroline married Windham Henry Quin (1782–1850). On the deaths of their fathers, in 1814 and 1824 respectively, they inherited considerable estates in Gloucestershire, Norfolk and South Wales, with Quin also succeeding to the Earldom of Dunraven and Mount-Earl. After her husband's death in 1850, Caroline, then the Dowager Countess, remained at Clearwell until her own death in 1870. In 1890, the Clearwell estate passed out of the ownership of the Wyndham family. [2] [6]

The court was renamed Clearwell Castle in 1908. [7] The first half of the 20th century saw the castle suffer a serious fire in 1930, and after the Second World War, the loss of its floors, roofs and many of its internal fittings and decorations prior to intended demolition. [lower-alpha 1] [3] The castle was saved through its purchase in 1952 by Frank Yeates, son of a former gardener at the castle. Yeates and his family began a long restoration. [3]

In the 1970s the family ran a recording and rehearsal studios at Clearwell. Many major rock bands including Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Mott the Hoople, [8] Black Sabbath, [9] Bad Company, Queen and Whitesnake recorded at the castle. [10] Black Sabbath started writing and recording their album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath when staying at the castle in 1973, and band member Tony Iommi claimed to have "definitely" seen a ghost in the building. [11] In 1978, the members of Led Zeppelin reconvened at the castle after a period apart, and began writing and rehearsing what became their In Through the Out Door album. [12]

The Yeates family sold the castle in the 1980s. In 1994 it was bought by Richard Morley, a computer consultant, who ran it as a commune. [13] Today, the castle operates as a wedding venue. [14]

Architecture and description

Alistair Rowan, in his 1970 essay on the castle, describes Clearwell as "next to Vanbrugh Castle, the oldest Georgian Gothic castle standing". [lower-alpha 2] [2] Alan Brooks, in the revised 2002 Gloucestershire Pevsner, goes further, calling Clearwell, "the earliest Gothick Revival castle in England". [3] Neither Rowan, nor David Verey in the first edition of the Gloucestershire Pevsner, attributed the castle to a named architect, but both Brooks, and Historic England, firmly ascribe the castle to Roger Morris. [15] Brooks suggests that Clearwell goes further in conveying the "castle air" than much of Vanbrugh's work, although he notes similarities to Vanbrugh's reconstruction at Lumley Castle in County Durham, and to Morris's own work at Inveraray Castle in Argyll, though the latter is almost twenty years after Clearwell in date. [3]

The castle comprises a recessed two-storey central block, with paired, three-storey towers to the front [3] and a rear extension at a right angle to the main block. Rowan suggests these two sections represent separate building phases, of 1727–1728, and the mid-1730s. [2] The whole is built of local stone from the Forest of Dean. [3] Little of the original interior has survived; Victorian remodelling in the mid-19th century and the fire and subsequent gutting of the building in the mid-20th, destroyed most of the decoration. The castle is a Grade II* listed building. [15] The main gateway and lodges, [16] the stable lodges, [17] three pairs of gateposts on a green facing the main entrance, [18] and statues of a man, [19] and a child with a sphinx, [20] on the lawn in front of the castle, all have their own Grade II listings. The statue of the man probably depicts Hercules, [19] while the meaning of the statue of the child atop a sphinx is unrecorded. [lower-alpha 3] [20]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ David Verey, in the first edition of his Gloucestershire Pevsner writes that, "between 1948 and 1954 the interior was largely ruined by speculators". [7]
  2. ↑ Alistair Rowan's essay appeared in a volume of articles, The Country Seat - Studies in the History of the British Country House, which was produced as a sixty-fifth birthday tribute to the architectural historian Sir John Summerson. In the essay, Rowan notes that Vanbrugh Castle lacks the Gothic arches employed at Clearwell. [2]
  3. ↑ Cupid's victory over the Sphinx is the narrative of Ben Jonson's 17th-century masque Love Freed from Ignorance and Folly . In the 18th century, the date of the Clearwell statue, the imagery was favoured by sculptors; examples can be seen at Versailles and Sanssouci. [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deerhurst</span> Human settlement in England

Deerhurst is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, about 2 miles (3 km) southwest of Tewkesbury. The village is on the east bank of the River Severn. The parish includes the village of Apperley and the hamlet of Deerhurst Walton. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 906, the majority of whom live in Apperley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloucester Cathedral</span> Church in Gloucester, England

Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity and formerly St Peter's Abbey, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishment of a minster, Gloucester Abbey, dedicated to Saint Peter and founded by Osric, King of the Hwicce, in around 679.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clearwell</span> Village in Gloucestershire, England

Clearwell is a village and former ancient manor in the Forest of Dean, West Gloucestershire, England. A recent survey indicated that the population of Clearwell is approximately 350.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kings Weston House</span> Historic building in Bristol, England, UK

Kings Weston House is a historic building in Kings Weston Lane, Kingsweston, Bristol, England. Built during the early 18th century, it was remodelled several times, the most recent in the mid-19th century. The building was owned by several generations of the Southwell family. By World War I, the house was used as a hospital and then later used as a school by the Bath University School of Architecture. The building is today used as a conference and wedding venue, as well as a communal residence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cirencester Park (country house)</span> Country house in Gloucestershire, England

Cirencester Park is a country house in the parish of Cirencester in Gloucestershire, England, and is the seat of the Bathurst family, Earls Bathurst. It is a Grade II* listed building. The gardens are Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Morris (architect)</span> English architect (1695–1749)

Roger Morris was an English architect whose connection with Colen Campbell brought him to the attention of Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke, with whom Morris collaborated on a long series of projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miserden</span> Human settlement in England

Miserden is a village and civil parish in Stroud District, Gloucestershire, England, 4 miles north east of Stroud. The parish includes Whiteway Colony and the hamlets of Sudgrove and The Camp. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 420, increasing to 449 at the 2011 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purton, Lydney</span> Human settlement in England

Purton is a hamlet on the west bank of the River Severn, in the civil parish of Lydney in Gloucestershire, England. It lies opposite the village of Purton near Berkeley on the east bank of the river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forthampton</span> Human settlement in England

Forthampton is a village in Gloucestershire, England. The village is located three miles from the market town of Tewkesbury and features "a great number of interesting buildings", fine views, several duck ponds, a church, a collection of thatched cottages and farmsteads, a village hall and a village club. Forthampton was designated a Conservation Area in 2003 due to its special architectural and historic interest, character and appearance which it was desirable to preserve and enhance. Notable features of the village include extensive historic buildings clustered around farm houses situated at the centre of the village, the many roadside ponds and grass verges around and between buildings and significant panoramic views.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunraven Castle</span> Mansion near Southerndown, Wales

Dunraven Castle was a mansion on the South Wales coast near Southerndown. The existing manor house was rebuilt as a castellated hunting lodge in the early 19th century and was extensively remodelled later in the century. The surviving parts of the house are a Grade II listed building and its gardens and park are designated Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary of the Angels Church, Brownshill</span> Church in Gloucestershire, England

St Mary of the Angels Church is located to the south of the village of Brownshill in the parish of Chalford, Gloucestershire, England. It is a redundant Roman Catholic church vested in the Friends of Friendless Churches. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Wyndham (of Clearwell Park)</span> British lawyer and politician

Thomas Wyndham of Clearwell Court, Gloucestershire, Dunraven Castle, Glamorgan, and Cromer, Norfolk, was a British lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1721 to 1734.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillfield House</span> Historic building in Gloucester, England

Hillfield House is a grade II listed house in Denmark Road, Gloucester, in England. The building, in the Italianate style popularised by Charles Barry, is faced in ashlar Bath stone, with a centrally placed tower and a porte-cochère entrance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wick Court, Arlingham</span> House in Arlingham, Gloucestershire

Wick Court is a country house in the parish of Arlingham, Gloucestershire, England, 0.5 mile east of the hamlet of Overton. It was constructed between the late 14th and the mid-17th centuries. Now a base for the charity Farms for City Children, it operates as a traditional livestock farm providing experience of country life for children from urban areas. Wick Court is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheltenham Municipal Offices</span> Municipal building in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England

The Cheltenham Municipal Offices are a municipal facility on The Promenade, Cheltenham, England. The offices, which are the headquarters of Cheltenham Borough Council, are a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lechlade Manor</span> Grade II listed house in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

Lechlade Manor in Lechlade, Gloucestershire, England, is a Victorian country house built for George Milward, a lawyer, by John Loughborough Pearson. Primarily an ecclesiastical architect, working on over 200 church buildings in his fifty-year career, the manor represents one of Pearson's rare forays into secular building. Dating from 1872 to 1873, Lechlade was subsequently sold to the Sisters of St Clotilde and operated as a convent for much of the 20th century. In the 1990s, it was converted back to a private residence, with some enabling development in the grounds. Lechlade Manor is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Mary and St Peter, Tidenham</span> Church in England, UK

The Church of St Mary and St Peter, Tidenham, is a parish church of the Diocese of Gloucester, England. It dates from the 13th and 14th centuries, and was extensively restored by John Norton in 1858. It is a Grade II* listed building and remains an active parish church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yorke Almshouses</span> Almshouse in Forthampton, Gloucestershire

The Yorke Almshouses, Nos. 14–17 Church Row, Forthampton, Gloucestershire, England, are a range of four almshouses designed by the architect William Burges in 1865. The block is a Grade II listed building and the almshouses remain private residences.

Piers Court is a country house in Stinchcombe on the Cotswold Edge in Gloucestershire, England. A Grade II* listed building, in the mid-20th century the court was home to the novelist Evelyn Waugh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Siddons' House</span> House in Lydbrook, Gloucestershire

Sarah Siddons' House, also called the Old House, is a cottage in the village of Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, England. A Grade II* listed building, the cottage was reputedly the childhood home of the actor Sarah Siddons.

References

  1. 1 2 "Wyndham, Thomas (c.1686-1752), of Clearwell Court, Glos., Dunraven Castle, Glam. and Cromer, Norf". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rowan 1970, pp. 145–149.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Verey & Brooks 2002, pp. 310–311.
  4. ↑ "Edwin (formerly Wyndham), Charles (d.1801), of Llanmihangel Plas and Dunraven Castle, Glam". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "Wyndham, Thomas (?1763-1814), of Dunraven Castle, Glam". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  6. ↑ "Clearwell, St Peter". mid-wyedeanchurches.co.uk. 13 February 2014.
  7. 1 2 Verey 1970, pp. 160–161.
  8. ↑ Bray, Elisha (25 February 2011). "It's all a very long way from Abbey Road". The Independent.
  9. ↑ Hughes, Janet (20 April 2019). "See Ozzy Osborne hellraising in 1970s Gloucestershire". gloucestershirelive. Gloucestershire Live.
  10. ↑ "The History of Clearwell Castle". Clearwell Castle. 16 April 2013.
  11. ↑ "Black Sabbath star: I've seen a ghost". Birmingham Mail. 7 June 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  12. ↑ "Led Zeppelin at Knebworth". Record Collector. 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  13. ↑ Gerrard, Lesley (13 January 1996). "Man and boy". The Independent . Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  14. ↑ "Castle Wedding Venue in Gloucestershire". Clearwell Castle. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  15. 1 2 Historic England. "Clearwell Castle (Grade II*) (1186324)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  16. ↑ Historic England. "Clearwell Castle main gateway and flanking lodges (Grade II) (1299253)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  17. ↑ Historic England. "Clearwell Castle gatehouse and flanking stables (Grade II) (1299254)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  18. ↑ Historic England. "Clearwell Castle - 3 Pairs of Gateposts on Green in Front of Main Gates (Grade II) (1186325)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  19. 1 2 Historic England. "Castle statue of a man about 30M west of main front on right, facing house (Grade II) (1186327)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  20. 1 2 Historic England. "Clearwell Castle statue of child and sphinx, about 30M west of main front on left, facing house (Grade II) (1186326)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  21. ↑ Craig 2010, p. 407.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.