Not very far from where we live stands Twizel Castle, high up on the hillside above the River Till. You can see it from the road glimpsed through the trees. I imagined what it was like to have lived there and wondered who had built it. It’s now in ruins, was it one of the castles that had been attacked centuries ago by the Scots, from just over the border?
One day instead of just looking as we passed it we stopped and walked up to see it properly. It’s up a steep footpath:
and this is what we found:
and inside, dereliction:
It’s amazing it’s still standing:
This castle is not what it seems. It was never lived in as it’s an 18th century castle that was never completed. It stands on the site of a medieval tower house, that was, indeed, destroyed by the Scots in 1496. It’s a Grade 2 Listed Building and is on English Heritage’s At Risk Register. For more information see Images of England and Gatehouse Gazetteer.
See more Saturday Snapshots on Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.
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