Lowther Castle
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Lowther Castle is a ruined country house in
Lowther Lowther may refer to: Places *River Lowther, Cumbria, England *Lowther, Cumbria, civil parish in Cumbria, England *Lowther, New Zealand, township in Southland, New Zealand *Lowther, New South Wales, locality in Australia *CFS Lowther, military in ...
,
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
, England. The estate has belonged to the Lowther family, latterly the
earls of Lonsdale Earl of Lonsdale is a title that has been created twice in British history, firstly in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1784 (becoming extinct in 1802), and then in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1807, both times for members of the Lowth ...
, since the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. The house was largely built between 1806 and 1814 for
William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, KG (29 December 175719 March 1844), also known as Sir William Lowther, 2nd Baronet, of Little Preston, from 1788 to 1802, and William Lowther, 2nd Viscount Lowther, from 1802 to 1807, was a British Tory pol ...
and designed by Robert Smirke in his first major commission. It incorporates fragments of the previous house on the site, which was completed in 1685 for
John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale, PC FRS (25 April 165510 July 1700), known as Sir John Lowther, 2nd Baronet, from 1675 to 1696, was an English politician. Early life He was born at Hackthorpe Hall, Lowther, Westmorland, the son of Col. ...
. It is open to the public and is a grade II*
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 ...
. The house takes the form of a sham castle, and was known as Lowther Hall before the 1806 rebuilding. It consists of a nine-
bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...
central block with angle turrets, a
porte-cochère A porte-cochère (; ; ; ) is a doorway to a building or courtyard, "often very grand," through which vehicles can enter from the street or a covered porch-like structure at a main or secondary entrance to a building through which originally a ...
on the entrance front, and a larger tower in the centre, which is linked by low wings to angle pavilions; the whole building is
embattled A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...
. The windows are a mixture of
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...
pointed arches and flat-topped in the Tudor style. There is a service wing to the east. In front of the house is a large forecourt enclosed a battlemented wall containing several turrets and a
gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...
. The house was closed by the
Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale, (25 January 1857–13 April 1944) was an English peer and sportsman. He was president of Bertram Mills Olympia Circus and a vice-president of the RSPCA. Early life Born in 1857, he was the second so ...
in 1935 and partly used as a tank training range during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The contents were sold in 1947 and the roof removed in 1957. The castle is owned by the Lowther estate and leased by the Lowther Castle and Gardens Trust, which in turn sub-leases the castle back to the estate. The wider estate is currently undergoing
rewilding Rewilding is a form of ecological restoration aimed at increasing biodiversity and restoring natural processes. It differs from other forms of ecological restoration in that rewilding aspires to reduce human influence on ecosystems. It is also d ...
.


History

The original settlement at the site was founded in 1120 by
Dolfin de Lowther Dolfin de Lowther (born c.1120) was an English people, English nobleman descended from Danelaw Vikings, Viking conquerors who in 1150, founded a settlement by the River Lowther that would eventually become the site of the still-standing Lowther ...
, a nobleman descended from
Danelaw The Danelaw (, ; ; ) was the part of History of Anglo-Saxon England, England between the late ninth century and the Norman Conquest under Anglo-Saxon rule in which Danes (tribe), Danish laws applied. The Danelaw originated in the conquest and oc ...
Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9 ...
conquerors. Francis Knollys escorted
Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...
to Lowther Hall (as the house was then known) on 13 July 1568 on her way to
Wharton Hall Wharton Hall in Wharton, Cumbria, England, is a medieval fortified manor house. History At the heart of Wharton Hall is a 15th-century hall, built from local limestone by the local Wharton, possibly Richard Wharton. During the Pilgrimage of Grac ...
and
Bolton Castle Bolton Castle is a 14th-century castle located in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, England (). The nearby village of Castle Bolton takes its name from the castle. The castle is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The castle was d ...
.


William and Augusta Lowther, 1st Earl and Countess of Lonsdale

William Lowther was born in 1757, and he was about 52 years old when he built Lowther Castle. He was the eldest son of Reverend Sir William Lowther and Anne Zouch. He was educated at Cambridge University, and in 1780 at the age of 23 he became a Member of Parliament. A year later he married Lady Augusta Fane, the daughter of John 9th Earl of Westmorland. He was an MP for 22 years until 1802, when he inherited the estates from his cousin Sir James Lowther. Sir James Lowther had a rather disreputable history. He incurred a large debt to the father of
William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...
and refused to pay it despite numerous requests from the family. When Sir James Lowther died in 1802 and William inherited his fortune he immediately refunded the money to the Wordsworth family with interest. He also befriended William Wordsworth and assisted him financially. Wordsworth frequently stayed at Lowther Castle; many of his published letters are written from there. Wordsworth wrote several poems for William. Part of his verse about Lowther Castle is as follows: ''"Lowther! in thy majestic Pile are seen''
''Cathedral pomp and grace in apt accord''
''With the baronial castle’s sterner mien"'' Lady Augusta Lonsdale, William's wife, was also a patron of the arts, and she kept an album in which some of the poets visiting Lowther Castle wrote verse. Wordsworth wrote a long poem in her honour in the album; it has been included in his published works.
Robert Southey Robert Southey (; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic poetry, Romantic school, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth an ...
, another famous poet, was also a frequent visitor at the castle and he too wrote in Lady Lonsdale's album. A verse he composed about Lowther Castle is as follows: ''"Lowther! have I beheld thy stately walls,''
''Thy pinnacles, and broad embattled brow,''
''And hospitable halls.''
''The sun those wide spread battlements shall crest,''
''And silent years unharming shall go by,''
''Till centuries in their course invest''
''Thy towers with sanctity."'' The Earl and Countess also encouraged artists to visit Lowther Castle. The most famous of these was
J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbu ...
. He painted the recently acquired work called “Lowther Castle – Evening” which hangs in the Bowes Museum. William also became the patron to Jacob Thompson who painted his portrait which is shown above. George Macartney, when visiting the summer retreat of the Chinese emperor in
Chengde Chengde, formerly known as Jehol and Rehe, is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, situated about northeast of Beijing. It is best known as the site of the Mountain Resort, a vast imperial garden and palace formerly used by the Qing e ...
in 1793, could compare the magnificence of what he saw only with Lowther Hall: “''If any place in England can be said in any respect to have similar features to the western park, which I have seen this day, it is Lowther Hall in Westmoreland, which (when I knew it many years ago) from the extent of prospect, the grand surrounding objects, the noble situation, the diversity of surface, the extensive woods, and command of water, I thought might be rendered by a man of sense, spirit, and taste, the finest scene in the British dominions.''” In 1839 Mrs Harriette Story Paige visited Lowther Castle with
Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State, U.S. secretary o ...
, a famous American politician. A detailed account of her experiences were given in her diary, in which she noted that: ''"We reached Lowther just at the hour of lunch, contrary to the English etiquette, which usually establishes the time for arriving, an hour or two only, before dinner, when at the announcement of that meal, the guests meet, for the first time. The Castle bell was rung, as we passed through the arched stone gateway, after a drive through the noble parks."'' Daniel Webster's wife also kept a diary and described her experience of the same visit to Lowther Castle.


William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale

William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale was born in 1787. He was educated at Harrow School and Cambridge University and in 1808 he followed in his father's footsteps and became a politician. He was an MP for the next 33 years until 1841. In 1844, when his father died, he inherited the Lowther Estates. From 1842 until his death he gathered a remarkable collection of ancient works of art at Lowther Castle, composed of more than 100 pieces of Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek, and mostly Roman sculpture, whose selection reflected the spirit of the collections of the ‘Golden Age of Dilettantism’ during the Victorian era. Lowther did not marry, but had several illegitimate children. Two of these inherited from him large sums of money on his death. One of these was a daughter, Frances (Fanny) Lowther, born in 1818 to the
Paris Opera The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...
dancer Pierre-Narcisse Chaspoux. Narcisse later had a liaison with
Charles Lewis Meryon Charles Lewis Meryon (27 June 1783 – 11 September 1877) was an English physician and biographer. Life The son of Lewis Meryon of Rye, Sussex, from a Huguenot background, he was born on 27 June 1783. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, ...
and gave birth in 1821 to
Charles Meryon Charles Meryon (sometimes Méryon, 23 November 1821 – 14 February 1868) was a French artist who worked almost entirely in etching, as he had colour blindness. Although now little-known in the English-speaking world, he is generally recognised ...
, the French artist. Frances Lowther later married the MP
Henry Broadwood Henry Broadwood (8 August 1795 or 1793 – 1878) was a British Conservative politician. He was a younger son of John Broadwood (by his second wife) and came from the famous piano-making family who owned John Broadwood & Sons, and supplied Beet ...
and had three children. His other child who was given an inheritance was Francis William Lowther, a Royal Navy officer. He was born in 1841 to Emilia Cresotti, a singer in the Paris Opera. William also appears to have had two other illegitimate daughters. One was Marie Caroline Lowther Saintfal, born in 1818 to Caroline Saintfal and registered in the Paris Baptisms. The other was to the famous French ballerina Lise Noblet, who wrote to him about their daughter. William died in 1872. As he had no legitimate heirs, the Lowther Estates passed to his nephew Henry Lowther.


Henry and Emily Lowther, 3rd Earl and Countess of Lonsdale

Henry Lowther was 54 years old when he inherited the Lonsdale Estates. He died only four years later after an attack of pneumonia. He therefore had little impact on the development of Lowther Castle. Henry was born in 1818. He was the nephew of the 2nd Earl of Lonsdale and the eldest son of the Hon. Henry Cecil Lowther, the 2nd Earl's brother. His mother was Lady Lucy Sherard. He was educated at Westminster School and Cambridge University and in 1841 he joined the 1st Life Guards. He was also a Member of Parliament representing West Cumberland between 1847 and 1872. In 1852 he married Emily Susan Caulfeild, the daughter of St George Caulfeild of
Donamon Castle Donamon Castle, or more correctly, Dunamon Castle (), is one of the oldest inhabited buildings in Ireland and stands on raised ground overlooking the River Suck in County Roscommon. History There was a fort here from early times (hence the name ...
of Roscommon, Ireland. The couple had six children. When Henry died in 1878 the Lowther Estates were inherited by his son St George Lowther who became the 4th Earl of Lonsdale.


St George and Gladys, 4th Earl and Countess of Lonsdale

St George was born in 1855 and was only 23 when he inherited Lowther Castle. He had a passion for exploration and when he obtained his fortune he spent much of his time aboard his two steam yachts making long voyages to far parts of the world. He had a scientific interest in the sea, and his careful studies of the behaviour of the
Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...
were important enough to be published by the American Hydrological Department. In 1878 he married Lady Gladys Herbert, a very famous socialite. She has been described as “one of the professional beauties, a select group of a half-dozen society ladies who like the super models of today were constantly talked about and whose portraits were on sale to the public. Everything about her seemed impressive. She was six feet tall and her dark eyes and brilliant colouring made any women near her look pale." The marriage was not considered to be a success, as St George was constantly away travelling and Gladys was caught up in a social set which did not meet with his approval. Gladys often entertained at Lowther Castle and one of her visitors was
Lillie Langtry Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer. Born on the isla ...
, who was said to be the mistress of King Edward VII. In her autobiography Langtry describes her stay at Lowther Castle as follows. “Lady Gladys Herbert and Later Countess of Lonsdale was superbly beautiful, with brilliant colouring and the features and carriage of an ideal Roman Empress. We were great friends and at one time almost inseparable. I spent part of one summer with her at Lowther Castle soon after her first marriage and she met me at Carlisle Station with her pony car to drive me to the Castle. As we wisked through the Park and the impressive walls of Lowther loomed before us she intimated that the one thing she was most anxious for me to see was the emu strutting about the grass." In 1882, at the age of twenty-six, St George died after a short illness which was followed by pneumonia. His younger brother Hugh Cecil Lowther inherited the castle. In the 19th century, an
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
ship HCS ''Lowther Castle'', was named after the estate.


Hugh and Grace Lowther, 5th Earl and Countess of Lonsdale

Hugh Cecil Lowther was born in 1857 and was only 25 when he inherited the castle. Being the second son of the Earl, he did not expect to be the manager of an estate, and so had not been appropriately educated. He was at Eton for only two years and left at the age of twelve, after which he spent his time playing sport. In 1878, four years before obtaining his inheritance, Hugh married Lady Grace Gordon, third daughter of the
Marquess of Huntly Marquess of Huntly is a title in the Peerage of Scotland that was created on 17 April 1599 for George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly. It is the oldest existing marquessate in Scotland, and the second-oldest in the British Isles; only the English ma ...
, who was three years his senior. Her family opposed the marriage, as Hugh was then not wealthy and seemed irresponsible. Their assessment of his character proved to be correct, as the following year he invested a great deal of money in cattle in America. The venture collapsed and the Lowther family was forced to save him. The couple then lived near
Oakham Oakham is a market town and civil parish in Rutland (of which it is the county town) in the East Midlands of England. The town is located east of Leicester, southeast of Nottingham and northwest of Peterborough. It had a population of 12,14 ...
and Grace became pregnant but suffered a bad fall while hunting and lost the baby. After this she was unable to bear children and she remained a partial invalid for the rest of her life. After he obtained his inheritance in 1882 Hugh indulged his many passions. He bought chestnut horses, carriages and many other extravagances. He had yellow-liveried footmen, a groom of the bedchamber, a chamberlain and a master of music to supervise the 24 musicians who travelled from house to house. His household travelled in a special train. Hugh declared that because of his childlessness he was the last of the Lowthers. This ignored the rights of his younger brother Lancelot, who was to inherit the vastly depleted estate. In August 1895 the
Kaiser Kaiser ( ; ) is the title historically used by German and Austrian emperors. In German, the title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (). In English, the word ''kaiser'' is mainly applied to the emperors ...
visited Lowther Castle for some grouse shooting, and the imperial flag flew over the house. The kings of Italy and Portugal later came to stay, and the Kaiser a second time in 1902. The Kaiser gave Lonsdale the order of the Prussian crown (first class) and a Mercedes. Hugh's fondness for cars made him the first President of the
Automobile Association An automobile association, also referred to as a motoring club, motoring association, or motor club, is an organization, either for-profit or non-profit, which motorists (drivers and vehicle owners) can join to enjoy benefits provided by the club ...
. He was also the first president of the
International Horse Show The Royal International Horse Show (originally the International Horse Show) is the official horse show of the British Horse Society and consists of both showing and showjumping events. The event is held during July each year at the All Englan ...
at Olympia. In 1920 the walls of Horse Show arena were decorated with a replica of the gardens at Lowther Castle. During the First World War he helped to found the Blue Cross animal charity, where his chief role was as a recruitment officer of both men and horses. He had his own
pals battalion The pals battalions of World War I were specially constituted battalions of the British Army comprising men who enlisted together in local recruiting drives, with the promise that they would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbours an ...
called the Lonsdale battalion (11th Battalion,
Border Regiment The Border Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. After service in ...
). The battalion was almost wiped out on the
Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France * Somme, Queensland, Australia * Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), ...
. After the war Hugh gave up hunting and became more involved with race horses. He became a senior steward of the
Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree Racecourse, Aintree, Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom ...
. He had only one major win and that was the St Leger in 1922. He was rarely seen in the House of Lords. Because of his extravagance he was forced to sell some of his inherited properties. In 1921
Whitehaven Castle Whitehaven Castle is a historic building in Whitehaven, Cumbria. It is a Grade II listed building. History The building was constructed for Sir John Lowther as his private residence; it was originally known as Flatt Hall and was completed in 17 ...
was sold, and in 1926 Barleythorpe Hall in
Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...
. The same year the west Cumberland coal mines closed. In 1935 he left Lowther Castle because he could no longer afford to live there, and moved to much smaller accommodation. Grace died in 1941 and three years later in 1944 Hugh died, aged 87.


Closure of Lowther Castle

In September 1942, the tenants of the Lowther Estate received an invitation to a meeting in Penrith. There they were told their land was to be requisitioned for military use. In October of that year, a column of Matilda tanks arrived in the grounds of the castle. In a highly secret operation, tank regiments were using the grounds of Lowther Castle to develop the Canal Defence Light. Hugh Lowther was the last resident of Lowther Castle. His brother Lancelot, the 6th Earl, inherited the estate in 1944; but because of Hugh's large debts he was forced to sell many of the family's treasures. A large auction sale was held in 1947. Lancelot died in 1953 and was succeeded by James, his grandson. James wished to develop the estates, and concentrated on farming. He saw Lowther Castle as an extravagance. After he returned from World War II, he said “it was a place that exemplified gross imperial decadence during a period of abject poverty". The army had damaged the grounds and buildings during the war, and the castle had been empty for many years. James offered the castle as a gift to three local authorities, but all refused. At that time the only options for large country houses were to open them to the public or to demolish them. Faced with £25 million in death duties, he could not afford the former, so he decided to remove the roof and demolish much of the stonework. "Just the façade and outer walls remained", according to the castle's owner. The forecourt became pig pens; and the concrete on the south lawns that the army had laid he used as a base for a broiler chicken factory. The remainder of the gardens was used as a
timber plantation A tree plantation, forest plantation, plantation forest, timber plantation, or tree farm is a forest planted for high volume production of wood, usually by planting one type of tree as a monoculture forest. The term ''tree farm'' also is used to ...
, with
Sitka spruce ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to just over tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth- ...
trees. Significant improvements have been achieved since then. After the death of Lord Lonsdale in 2006, the chicken-broiler unit and the trees were removed. With a great deal of funding from various sources, some garden restoration was done and a restoration of the castle shell and the full reinstatement and conversion of the stables was also completed.


Early 20th century

The gardens of Lowther Castle were abandoned in 1935 but before that they represented centuries of careful cultivation by successive generations of the Lowther family. There exists a detailed description of the gardens written in the lifetime of the 5th Earl who was the last person to live at the Castle. The description divides western side of the castle into the ''Rock Garden'', ''Sweet Scented Garden'', and the ''Japanese Garden''. The Japanese Garden was created by local gardener Thomas Richard Hayes in 1904. A local expert in rock and water garden design, Hayes imported trees from Japan and used pools, curved bridges and statues of water birds to create an authentic feel. Dawson continues his description, looking at ''The Terrace'' and then the gardens to the east of the castle including ''Hugh's Garden'' and ''Jack Croft's Pond''.


Conservation and reopening

In 2000 the Lowther Estate and
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 ...
jointly commissioned a team of historians, landscapers, architects and engineers to review the status of the castle and its grounds, and they produced the ''Lowther Castle & Garden Conservation Plan''. In 2005 the estate formed an informal partnership with the
Northwest Development Agency The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) was the regional development agency for the North West England region and was a non-departmental public body.NWDA Who We Are/ref> It was abolished on 31 March 2012. The Agency was responsible for th ...
, English Heritage, Cumbria Vision and the
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...
to regenerate the site. The objectives were to consolidate the ruin, restore the garden and open the site to the public. Sheppard Robson
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
were appointed as architects. The castle and 130 acres of grounds were transferred to a charity called the Lowther Castle and Gardens Trust in 2007 and the site opened to the public on 22 April 2011. After an initial £9 million consolidation, the castle and some gardens opened for public visits in 2011, for the first time since 1938; other garden areas were still overgrown at that time. In 2016, the Lowther family again began to manage the property in advance of the official reopening for the 2017 season. In March 2016 the property was sub-leased to Lowther Castle Limited, a non-charitable company formed to manage the activities undertaken at the Castle and Gardens. In summer 2016, The Lost Castle, the largest wooden playground in the country, was opened at Lowther Castle. The hand-built playground is made from 11 miles of sustainably sourced timber. A report in October 2018 summarised the situation at that time as follows: "The part-demolished castle shell and the wrecked garden have been resurrected with impressive energy and conviction. Lowther is now once again one of the leading showplaces of Cumbria". In the same year, the property was cited as the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year 2018 in the Cumbria Tourism Awards. Developments in the gardens continue. Work on the 130-acre garden was continuing in mid-2019, based on plans by Patrick James and Dominic Cole, under the guidance of designer Dan Pearson and the castle's current owner Jim Lowther (son of the 7th Earl of Lonsdale). One of the projects is the Garden in the Ruin, a new phase after the 2015 plantings, including Hydrangea aspera Sargentiana and Parthenocissus henryana. The new Rose Garden had already received 1,250 eglantine roses, underplanted with brunnera, Galium odoratum and Chaero-phylum hirsutum Roseum; in spring 2019, 6,000 perennials were added, white Geranium macrorrhizum White-Ness, Calamintha sylvatica Menthe and Brunnera macrophylla Betty Bowring and Narcissus poeticus and Camassia leichtlinii alba. In late 2019, an additional 2,255 David Austin roses were to be planted. Future phases will include the addition of Japanese plants in The Japanese Garden and the conversion of the Scented Garden to Katsura Grove. The area around an old summer house to the west of the garden will be planted with honeysuckle, roses and bulbs. The modified gardens were planned to open to visitors in spring 2020. In June 2022,
Andrea Brunsendorf Andrea Brunsendorf is a gardener, horticulturalist and landscaper. She was born in Thuringia in Germany, and gained a degree in Ornamental Horticulture in Erfurt. She was an apprentice at the seedbreeder N. L. Chrestensen in Erfurt und then wo ...
was appointed head gardener,Giles Brown, New head gardener for Lowther Castle. Cumbriacrack, 17/05/2022
/ref>


Events

Lowther Deer Park hosts the music festival
Kendal Calling Kendal Calling is a music and arts festival, held annually at Lowther Deer Park in the Lake District, Cumbria in the North West of England. It has grown from a two-day, 900 capacity event in 2006 to a 40,000 capacity 4-day music festival. Kend ...
, and Born Survivor, a obstacle run.


See also

*
Askham, Cumbria Askham is a village and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. It is in the historic county of Westmorland. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 360, decreasing slightly to 356 at the 2011 Census. It ...


References


Sources

* * * * * *


External links

*
Kendal CallingJuly 2003 BBC story on the restoration plansHeritage and History - Pictures from the first open day for over 70 years
{{coord, 54, 36, 21, N, 2, 44, 25, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in Cumbria Castles in Cumbria Gardens in Cumbria Rose gardens in Cumbria Grade II* listed buildings in Cumbria Gothic Revival architecture in Cumbria Ruins in Cumbria Mock castles in England Tourist attractions in Cumbria Lowther family Gardens by Capability Brown Grade II* listed houses William Talman buildings Houses completed in 1814