Ray Wood is a woodland area of the

Castle Howard Castle Howard is an English country house in Henderskelfe, North Yorkshire, north of York. A private residence, it has been the home of the Earl of Carlisle, Carlisle branch of the House of Howard, Howard family for more than 300 years. Castle ...

estate in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, in England. It contains several historic structures.

History

Originally known as "Wray Wood", it was first recorded in the 16th century. In 1699, George London was commissioned to landscape the woodland, planning to cut radial avenues through it. This plan was not pursued, and instead in 1705 a more naturalistic labyrinth design of paths was created, probably to a design by either

Nicholas Hawksmoor Nicholas Hawksmoor ( – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principal architects ...

John Vanbrugh Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restor ...

. From 1706 to 1710, a boundary wall,

summer house A summer house or summerhouse is a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden or park, often designed t ...

, fountains, statues, seats and steps were constructed. It became a popular place for visitors to the estate to stroll.

Stephen Switzer Stephen Switzer (1682–1745) was an English gardener, garden designer and writer on garden subjects, often credited as an early exponent of the English landscape garden. He is most notable for his views of the transition between the large garde ...

was particularly enthusiastic about the wood, describing it as "this incomparable wood, the highest pitch that natural and polite gardening can ever possibly ascribe to... 'tis there that nature is truly imitated, if not excelled". In the mid-18th century, most of the features were removed, retaining only the plinths of some statues, and the statue of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

. There was a small reservoir at the bottom of the wood, which was rebuilt on a larger scale in the 1850s, to feed the new Atlas Fountain. The wood was all felled in the 1940s and replanted in 1946 with hardwoods. The paths were restored from 1968 to 1975, and James Russell then introduced new planting. The walls were restored in 2007.

Architecture

Gates and railings

The

grade II* 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, H ...

gates and railings probably date from the early 18th century. They are in

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

, and the

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

and walls are in stone. There are two pairs of square piers on

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

s, with sunken panels, moulded

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

s and ball

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

s, and they are joined by low walls, one with railings. In front, the walls are coped and angled, containing seats, and ending in quadrants.

Reservoir

The reservoir is grade II* listed. It is a circular basin about in diameter. In the centre is a rectangular

pedestal A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

on a moulded base, with raised square panels and a moulded

. There are carvings of water creatures and plants on the pedestal, which are usually underwater.

Medici Vase

The grade II* listed Medici Vase was made by the Coade Company in

Coade stone Coade stone or ''Lithodipyra'' or ''Lithodipra'' () is stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding neoclassical architecture, neoclassical statues, a ...

, and purchased by the estate in 1778. It is a copy of the

Medici Vase The Medici Vase is a monumental marble bell-shaped krater sculpted in Athens in the second half of the 1st century AD as a garden ornament for the Ancient Rome, Roman market. It is now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Description Standing 1.52 ...

in the

Uffizi Gallery The Uffizi Gallery ( ; , ) is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. It is decorated with figures representing the sacrifice of

Iphigenia In Greek mythology, Iphigenia (; , ) was a daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and thus a princess of Mycenae. In the story, Agamemnon offends the goddess Artemis on his way to the Trojan War by hunting and killing one of Artem ...

. The vase stands on a

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

base, about high, with waterleaf decoration to the base, sunk panels, one with a Latin inscription, the others with antique medallions, and a moulded

Pyramid

The pyramid is a roughly-placed collection of stones in a central clearing in the wood. The stones are believed to have been part of the original early-18th century ornamental features, which were demolished and later reassembled by gardeners, probably in a new form.

References

External links

* {{coord, 54, 07, 26, N, 0, 54, 00, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Castle Howard Forests and woodlands of North Yorkshire