Speedwell Castle is a mid-18th-century house at the centre of

Brewood Brewood is an ancient market town in the civil parish of Brewood and Coven, in the South Staffordshire district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. Located around , Brewood lies near the River Penk, eight miles north of Wolverhampton c ...

, Staffordshire, between

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

and Stafford. Described by

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

as a "peach" and a "delectable folly", it stands beside the village market place, at the head of a

T-junction A three-way junction (or three-way intersection) is a type of road intersection with three arms. A Y junction (or Y intersection) generally has three arms of equal size coming at an acute or obtuse angle to each other; while a T junction (or T i ...

on Bargate Street, facing onto Stafford Street. The house is an interesting combination of "

Gothick Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

" and

Classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect ...

: the symmetrical brick façade has two canted bays, each of three storeys, either side of a pillared entrance with

ogee An ogee ( ) is the name given to objects, elements, and curves—often seen in architecture and building trades—that have been variously described as serpentine-, extended S-, or sigmoid-shaped. Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combinat ...

portico and octagonal-panelled door. There are five windows around each bay on each floor, and a single window on the two floors above the entrance, with decorative plasterwork arranged in tiers of round-headed arches with keystones and ogee arches rising to pinnacles surmounted by acorns. The glazing is arranged in a delicate tracery, originally of hexagons (although the glazing bars are not original on the ground and first floors). The façade is finished by a modillion cornice and parapet, concealing a hipped slate roof with brick chimney stacks. The interior includes one surviving decorative plaster ceiling and a Chinese Chippendale staircase with fretted balustrade. The house became a grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in 1953. The designer is unknown but some sources suggest

Thomas Farnolls Pritchard Thomas Farnolls Pritchard (also known as Farnolls Pritchard; baptised 11 May 1723 – died 23 December 1777) was an English architect and interior decorator who is best remembered for his design of the first cast-iron bridge in the world. Biogra ...

, who worked nearby in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

. The house has some similarities with Sandhurst House in

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The ...

, and Shenstone Hall near

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

. The design may have been inspired by the books published in the 1740s by

Batty Langley Batty Langley (''baptised'' 14 September 1696 – 3 March 1751) was an English garden designer, and prolific writer who produced a number of engraved designs for " Gothick" structures, summerhouses and garden seats in the years before the mid-18t ...

, who attempted to improve Gothic forms by giving them classical proportions. Speedwell Castle was reputedly built by a local apothecary William Rock, using the winnings from betting on the

Duke of Bolton Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

's racehorse, Speedwell. (An alternate story is that the builder owned an unsuccessful racehorse, and said that he would build a castle to celebrate if it ever won). After a period as the home of the classics master at

Brewood Grammar School Brewood Grammar School was a boys' school in the village of Brewood in South Staffordshire, England. Founded in the mid 15th century by the Bishop of Lichfield as a chantry school it was closed by the Dissolution of Chantries Act 1547. It was ...

in the second half of the 19th century, it became a reading room in the late 19th century. It was then used as shops and storage until the 1930s, when it was converted to residential flats.

References

The 'delectable folly' that is Brewood's Speedwell Castle
Birmingham Post, 2 April 2010
Speedwell Castle, Brewood and Coven
British Listed Buildings *
Staffordshire
Nikolaus Pevsner, p.78
Brewood: Introduction, manors and agriculture
A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 5: East Cuttlestone hundred (1959), pp. 18-40.

External links

* Views of Speedwell Castle, Brewood, Staffordshire Past-Track: *
c.1970-1989
*
1974
*
c.1905-1915
*
c.1896-1910
{{coord, 52.67691, -2.17403, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Houses completed in the 18th century Gothic Revival architecture in Staffordshire