Highcliffe Castle
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Highcliffe Castle, situated on the cliffs at
Highcliffe Highcliffe or Highcliffe-on-Sea is a seaside town in the civil parish of Highcliffe and Walkford, in the unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, in the ceremonial county of Dorset in Englan ...
, Dorset, was built between 1831 and 1835 by Charles Stuart, 1st Baron Stuart de Rothesay in a Romantic and Picturesque,
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
style near the site of High Cliff House, a Georgian Mansion designed for the 3rd Earl of Bute (a founder of
Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
) with the gardens laid out by
Capability Brown Lancelot "Capability" Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783) was an English gardener and landscape architect, a notable figure in the history of the English landscape garden style. Unlike other architects ...
. The design, by
William Donthorne William John Donthorn (Donthorne in some sources) (1799 – 18 May 1859) was an English architect, and one of the founders of what became the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He was born in Swaffham, Norfolk. He was a pupil of Sir ...
, a founder member of
RIBA ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130
, incorporated large quantities of carved Medieval stonework salvaged from the ruined Benedictine Abbey of St Peter at Jumieges and the Grand' Maison des Andelys, both situated in Normandy, France. A historic
Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
building, it is now owned by the
Christchurch, Dorset Christchurch () is a town and civil parish on the south coast of Dorset, England. The parish had a population of 31,372 in 2021. It adjoins Bournemouth to the west, with the New Forest to the east. Part of the Historic counties of England, hist ...
Council.


History

The Earl's fourth son, General Sir Charles Stuart sold the estate apart from the nearby smaller Bure Homage House. All that remains of the original High Cliff are the two entrance lodges, now used as a restaurant, also some of the garden walls and features in the lands. The son of Sir Charles Stuart, also Charles Stuart, decided to buy his grandfather's estate and build a new house there.


Lord Stuart de Rothesay: 1830–1845

Charles Stuart was born in 1779, the eldest son of General Sir Charles Stuart and Anne Louisa who was the daughter of Lord Vere Bertie. Educated at
Eton college Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
, in 1801 he entered the diplomatic service, serving in
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,
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, French-occupied
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, and in
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. It was as Ambassador in Spain that he became indispensable to the
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, and accompanied him during Napoleon's Hundred Days through to the
Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...
. After the defeat of Napoleon, Charles escorted the exiled French King Louis XVIII back to Paris and became British Ambassador there. During his ambassadorship in Paris he married the wealthy Lady Elizabeth Yorke, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Hardwicke. They had two daughters Charlotte (later Lady Canning), and Louisa (later Lady Waterford). His greatest achievement was the treaty which enabled Brazil to become independent of Portugal in 1825. In 1828 he was made Baron Stuart de Rothesay, and in the same year was appointed for a second term as ambassador to France. Early retirement from the diplomatic service meant Lord Stuart could start on the project to build a new family home, and by 1830 he had purchased much of the eastern end of the estate, which previously had been owned by his forebears. This allowed him to start construction of the modern Highcliffe Castle. William Donthorne, a founder member of the Royal Institute of British Architects designed Highcliffe Castle. The castle is built on an L-shaped plan, oriented on a south-east axis, so the
oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window generally projects from an ...
is central on the south east elevation, providing a vista across the landscaped gardens to a panorama of
The Needles The Needles are a row of three stacks of chalk that rise about out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, United Kingdom, close to Alum Bay and Scratchell's Bay, and part of Totland, the weste ...
and the
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. Used in the building of the house was carved medieval stonework from the Norman Benedictine Abbey of St Peter at Jumieges and from the Grand' Maison of Radeval, at
les Andelys Les Andelys (; Norman language, Norman: ''Les Aundelys'') is a Communes of France, commune in the northern French Departments of France, department of Eure, in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy. Geography It lies on the Seine, about no ...
. Both of these buildings had fallen into disrepair after the French Revolution. Also included in the castle, were a 16th-century oriel window and a stained glass window. After the Castle was completed, Charles became Ambassador to Russia in 1841. However ill-health caused his return to England and he died at Highcliffe in 1845. He was buried at St Mark's Church, Highcliffe and his memorial can still be seen there.


Louisa, Marchioness of Waterford: 1845–1891

After Charles's death, his widow Lady Elizabeth, Stuart de Rothesay inherited the castle. She died in 1867 and left the property to Louisa her younger daughter as Charlotte, the elder daughter, had predeceased her. Louisa had been born in 1818 in Paris. The family moved into Highcliffe Castle in 1834 and lived there and also in their London residence. Louisa wrote some of her memories of her life at Highcliffe Castle which were recorded in a book by Hare. In 1842 Louisa married Henry, Marquis of Waterford and became the Marchioness of Waterford. The couple lived at Curraghmore, County Waterford for many years, and during this time Louisa became an accomplished painter whose work is still valued today. Her husband died in 1859 and she moved to the estate left to her in Ford, Northumberland. It was here that she built a school hall and on the walls painted Biblical scenes. These paintings survive today in what is now called Lady Waterford Hall in Ford. In 1867 her mother died and she inherited Highcliffe Castle. She spent the summers at Highcliffe and returned to Ford Castle in the winter. She had many visitors at the castle one of whom was Augustus Hare, a fellow painter. He recounts a typical day at Highcliffe Castle. :''“The late breakfast in the pleasant room which looks across the sunlit sea to the Isle of Wight through the leaves of large magnolia trees was always a happy meeting, at which Lady Waterford brimmed over with the anecdotes and reminiscences evoked by her morning letters. Immediately afterwards she would read aloud from the newspapers in the porch-room, then she went to write in her own room, and her guests dispersed till she summoned them back by playing and singing loudly with wide-open windows. Then all adjourned to the library, where one of the party read aloud, whilst Lady Waterford painted. After luncheon there was a walk, generally on the sands, often to the Haven House and its wild fir wood."''. She entertained the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward and Queen Alexandra) at Highcliffe Castle. In 1880 she recounts one of their visits. :''"I have had a great surprise in the unexpected visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales, with their two sons and the three little Princesses, landing on the beach, coming up to tea, and drawing nets on the shore till evening — the young Princes swimming about in flannels, and finally the Prince and two sons swimming away to join the steam-tug."'' A picture of the royal family at around the same time as this visit is shown on the left. In 1891 Lady Waterford died and as she had no children she left Highcliffe Castle to a very distant cousin Edward Stuart Wortley.


Edward Stuart Wortley: 1891–1950

Edward James Stuart Wortley was born in 1857. He was the second son of the Hon Francis Dudley Montagu Stuart Wortley and Maria Elizabeth Martin. He was educated at Eton in 1886 and afterwards joined the Army. In 1877 he entered the Kings Royal Rifle Corps. He distinguished himself in the First Boer War in the 1880s and in other African Battles until 1900. In 1901 he became Military Attache in Paris which he held for three years before returning to England. In 1907
Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...
stayed at Highcliffe Castle for three weeks to recover his health. This visit was widely publicised. While he was there, the Kaiser presented two stained glass windows to Stuart Wortley which were inserted in one of the rooms. In the following year he was invited to be guest of honour to the German Army manoeuvres held in Alsace. He was promoted to Major General in 1913. He served in the First World War but his Division did not greatly distinguish itself and he was sent to Ireland to help quell the rebellion there. He retired from the Army in 1919 and died in 1934. His wife Violet Stuart Wortley (née Guthrie) was the longest resident of Highcliffe Castle. She was born in 1866 and married Edward in 1891, the same year that he inherited the Castle from Lady Waterford. The couple had three children Nicholas, Louisa and Elizabeth. Unfortunately Nicholas died in 1926 at the age of 34. Violet wrote many books, most notably the history of the Stuart family called “Highcliffe and the Stuarts. Towards the end of her life she wrote an autobiography called “Life Without Theory” which outlined her early life. She sold Highcliffe Castle in 1949 and died four years later in 1953.


Harry Gordon Selfridge: 1916–1922

During the time that the Stuart Wortleys owned the Castle it was rented several times. One of the most notable tenants from 1916 to 1922 was the American-born retail entrepreneur
Harry Gordon Selfridge Harry Gordon Selfridge, Sr. (11 January 1858 – 8 May 1947) was an American retail magnate who founded the London-based department store Selfridges. The early years of his leadership led to his becoming one of the most respected and wealthy re ...
. He lived there with his wife Rosalie, his mother Lois and son Gordon. At the age of 21,
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
-born Selfridge joined the wholesale retail firm of Marshall, Field and Co in
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, where he worked for 25 years. He rose to become a junior partner, and amassed a considerable fortune. In 1906 he came to London and opened his own store,
Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of upmarket department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908. The historic Daniel Burnham-designed Self ...
, in 1909. It was a huge success as he introduced new American ways of marketing. In 1916 Selfridge leased Highcliffe Castle. Although he was only a tenant he set about fitting modern bathrooms, installing steam central heating and building and equipping a modern kitchen. During the War, Rose joined the
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and opened a tented retreat called the Mrs Gordon Selfridge Convalescent Camp for American Soldiers in the castle grounds. Unfortunately Rose died in the
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of 1918 and Harry's mother Lois, who lived with them, died in 1924. Harry did not do well after this and gave up the lease to Highcliffe in 1922 but he is buried in St Marks Churchyard at Highcliffe next to his wife and mother.


1950s onwards: decline

Early in 1950 local businessman J.H.Leonard Lloyd bought it from the Stuart Wortley family to turn into a large children's convalescent home. Having already founded and run a successful similar home near Lynton in North Devon, he charged four guineas a week. Unfortunately later on unfounded media allegations of the
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of children led to a subsequent court case, which although dismissed resulted in the home's closure. Put on the market for £45,000, it was bought by a developer, who created Rothesay Drive on the estate lands on which he built new private homes. He then sold on the castle and residual gardens for £14,000 to the
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Claretian Missionary, who wanted to develop a training centre for student priests. The chapel was in the great hall, flanked by two staircases. A dormitory was built next to the East Wing which now houses the Castle's tearooms. Latterly used as a
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
, with rising maintenance costs the Claretians moved out in 1966.


Fires, dereliction

Bought for £21,000 in 1967 by three local businessmen, a fire just before this badly damaged the Great Hall, and another fire the following year caused more devastation, the staircase having to be removed. Blocked from any form of development or demolition, resultantly exposed to the weather and vandals, the Castle deteriorated into a ruin. National concern about its fate was voiced by local people,
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
, the
Ancient Monuments Society The Ancient Monuments Society (AMS) is a learned society and registered charity in England and Wales, founded in 1924 "for the study and conservation of ancient monuments, historic buildings and fine old craftsmanship". Since October 2021, the or ...
, the
Victorian Society The Victorian Society is a UK charity and amenity society that campaigns to preserve and promote interest in Victorian and Edwardian architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. As a statutory consultee, by l ...
, the Buildings at Risk Trust, SAVE Britain's Heritage, as well as prominent architectural historians.


Restoration: 1977–1998

After a long series of legal redevelopment disputes with the businessmen, in 1977 Christchurch Council compulsorily purchased the Castle for £65,000 – its valuation set by a Land Tribunal undertaken by the Adjudicator to
HM Land Registry His Majesty's Land Registry is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's Government, created in 1862 to register the ownership of land and property in England and Wales. It reports to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Governme ...
– and opened the grounds and beach access to the public to mark the Queen's Silver Jubilee. Unable to afford the projected cost of restoration, in 1986 the Council offered the building on a 125-year lease for it to be restored for residential or hotel use within three acres of land for enabling development, but although several schemes were submitted none materialised. In August 1979, two episodes of the Southern Television series The Famous Five (entitled-Five Go Down To The Sea) were aired. Several scenes were filmed in and around Highcliffe Castle; whilst in its derelict state, including the hall without staircases and even the rear stepped entrance within a temporary 8 foot wired fence erected at the time, presumably by the council. In 1989 the Council and English Heritage jointly commissioned Niall Phillips Architects of
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to consider what future the Castle might have. In 1990 a shroud of scaffolding and sheeting was put around it to protect it, and in 1994 a start was made on a phased scheme to repair and conserve the building, funded initially by Christchurch Council and English Heritage. The first phase repaired the Castle's south wing, including the Wintergarden, Drawing Room and Library. On its completion, the
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agreed to fund the council's £2.6million bid, enabling all major repairs to be completed by 1998, including the rebuilding of the East Tower which had been demolished in 1974 when it became unsafe. Craftsmen and women from Dorchester-based St Blaise Ltd won a prestigious Stone Federation award for their work on the Castle, with the judges describing it as ''“a textbook example of great care and skill”''.


Present day

Highcliffe Castle is a Grade I
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
now owned by Christchurch Council, and described as "the most important remaining example of the Romantic and Picturesque style of architecture.” It holds events, is open to the general public throughout the year and can be used for weddings and other private events. In 2008, Dorset construction company Greendale Construction Limited carried out major refurbishment works as part of the sixth phase of a substantial repair, renovation and development programme for the castle. This was the first significant change made to the building in the last decade. As a result of the restoration work, an estimated 55,000 visitors will now be able to access parts of Highcliffe Castle that were previously not open to the public, including the state dining room, butler's pantry and the East Tower. The project also completed improvements to the Great Hall, food preparation area and bar, as well as constructing new public toilets in the basement and upgrading the external car park. Following the success of Phase 6, in 2018 Greendale Construction Limited carried out yet another major 18-month renovation and restoration of Highcliffe Castle's Penleaze Wing. This more recent work has opened up parts of the castle previously impassable for over 50 years, since devastating fires and vandalism of the 1970s that destroyed and cut off parts of the building. The works have also seen the extension of upper level stairs with timber and the formation of 2 new lift shafts and 5 new or restored stairs. A mezzanine level walkway has been completed, and new steel stairs extending to the first and second floor.


References


External links

* {{Use dmy dates, date=March 2017 Country houses in Dorset Grade I listed houses in Dorset Historic house museums in Dorset Tourist attractions in Christchurch, Dorset Castles in Dorset Buildings and structures in Christchurch, Dorset Gardens by Capability Brown