Muncaster Castle is a privately-owned castle in the parish of Muncaster,

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. It stands overlooking the River Esk, about a mile east of the coastal village of Ravenglass. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

as a designated 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 ...

History

The place is now corruptly known as "Muncaster", which first appeared in a

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

church register in 1577, the original name according to all old evidence and records being "Mulcaster", registered in the pipe rolls of Cumberland circa 1150 (also as Molecaster and Mulecaster in 1190 and 1236 respectively). The placename "Muncaster" contains the Latin word ''castra'', meaning "encampment", or "fort". It is suspected that the site of the castle lies on foundations dating to the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

era, which, if they exist, may represent a ''

castellum A ''castellum'' in Latin is usually: * a small Roman fortlet or tower,C. Julius Caesar, Gallic War; 2,30 a diminutive of (' military camp'), often used as a watchtower or signal station like on Hadrian's Wall. It is distinct from a , which ...

'' for the nearby Roman fort of Glannoventa at Ravenglass. The Muncaster estate was granted to Alan de Penitone in 1208. The oldest parts of the castle include the

Great Hall A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages. It continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great cha ...

and the 14th-century pele tower, a type of watch-tower fortification unique to the English-Scottish border region. Muncaster Castle morris edited

Between 1860 and 1866

Anthony Salvin Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on Middle Ages, medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations, such as those of the ...

extensively remodelled Muncaster Castle for the Barons Muncaster. Sir John Frecheville Ramsden, 6th Baronet discussed proposed modifications to the castle with

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

from 1916, but nothing came of these; Lutyens did design the Muncaster War Memorial, constructed in 1922, on a commission from Ramsden. During the

Second World War 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 ...

, some 700 works of art from the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

were transferred to the castle for safekeeping. They included works by

Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters * Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for tur ...

, Manet and

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artwork ...

. Muncaster's gardens include features designed to take advantage of views of the Esk Valley and the mountains. There is an aviary containing owls and other raptor birds from Britain and overseas. There are daily flying displays of these birds. There is an indoor

maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead ...

themed on the life of a

field vole The short-tailed field vole, short-tailed vole, or simply field vole (''Microtus agrestis'') is a grey-brown vole, around 10 cm in length, with a short tail. It is one of the most common mammals in Europe, with a range extending from the Atl ...

. Muncaster Castle is still owned by the Pennington family, who have lived at Muncaster for at least 800 years, and a family residence. Until her death in 2011, Phyllida Gordon-Duff-Pennington and her husband

Patrick Gordon-Duff-Pennington Patrick Gordon-Duff-Pennington OBE (12 January 1930 – 9 January 2021), also known as Patrick of the Hills was a British farmer, poet, and landowner. He resided in Muncaster Castle, Ravenglass. He served as Hill Farming Convenor of the National ...

(1930–2021) worked for three decades to restore the castle from a "crumbling relic" and establish it as a place for tourism and events. Since 2021, the owners are Peter and Iona Frost-Pennington, with their elder son, Ewan, acting as the Muncaster's operations director. It now has more than 90,000 visitors a year. In October 2021, the castle was one of 142 sites across England to receive part of a £35-million injection into the government's Culture Recovery Fund. Muncaster hosts th
Muncaster Castle parkrun
5k every Saturday morning at 0900.

The Luck of Muncaster

After the

Battle of Towton The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire, and "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil". Fought for ten hours between a ...

in 1461, according to tradition, Henry VI fled to Muncaster Castle where Sir John Pennington sheltered him. Henry gave Sir John a

Venetian glass Venetian glass () is glassware made in Venice, typically on the island of Murano near the city. Traditionally it is made with a soda–lime "metal" and is typically elaborately decorated, with various "hot" glass-forming techniques, as well as ...

drinking bowl, with a wish: "As long as this bowl remains unriven, Penningtons from Muncaster never shall be driven". The glass, which is still intact, and still at the castle, is now known as "The Luck of Muncaster".

Tom Fool

A medieval

jester A jester, also known as joker, court jester, or fool, was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch kept to entertain guests at the royal court. Jesters were also travelling performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town ma ...

, Thomas Skelton was employed by the Penningtons and is reputed to be the original 'Tom Fool'. His portrait hangs in the castle. Skelton is also commemorated in an annual jesting competition held at the castle. Legend has it that Skelton was enlisted by Wild Will of Whitbeck to behead a carpenter's son, Dick, a servant at the castle, who was an unwanted suitor of his betrothed, Helwise Pennington, the unmarried daughter of Sir Alan Pennington. He is rumoured to have said, "There, I have hid Dick’s head under a heap of shavings; and he will not find that so easily, when he awakes, as he did my shillings."

References

Citations Sources *

External links

* {{official website, http://www.muncaster.co.uk, Muncaster Castle website
Gatehouse Gazetteer record for Muncaster Castle
containing a comprehensive bibliography
Muncaster Castle and Ravenglass Bath House
Houses completed in the 14th century Towers completed in the 14th century Castles in Cumbria Peel towers in Cumbria Country houses in Cumbria Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Cumbria Historic house museums in Cumbria Anthony Salvin buildings Muncaster

History

The Luck of Muncaster

Tom Fool

See also

References

External links