Tong Castle

Tong Castle was a very large mostly

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

country house 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 ...

whose site is between

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 United ...

and

Telford Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in the same direction. With an estim ...

, set within a park landscaped by

Capability Brown Lancelot Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English gardener and landscape architect, who remains the most famous figure in the history of the English lan ...

,Wolverhampton's Listed Buildings on the site of a medieval castle of the same name. The original castle was built in the 12th century. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

it was defended for the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...

William Careless Colonel William Careless (surname variants include Carelesse, Carless, Carles and Carlis) was a Royalist officer of the English Civil War. It has been estimated in various written sources that he was born c. 1620, however, it is more likely that ...

, and afterwards by George Mainwaring. The original structure was demolished in 1765 after the estate had been purchased by

George Durant George Durant (October 1, 1632 – February 6, 1692) was an attorney, Attorney General and Speaker of the House of Burgesses in the Province of Carolina. He is sometimes called the "father of North Carolina". Biography Durant was born in England ...

from the

Duke of Kingston Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, with the title Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull being a title in the Peerage of England. The Earldom was created on 25 July 1628 for Robert Pierrepont, 1st Viscount Newark. ...

who built the house illustrated. The building has been described both as an "architectural mongrel" and more flatteringly as "the first real gothic building in Shropshire". While at first glance there appear some anomalies of design, such as the ogee domes which, though Gothic in shape, are more redolent of the

English Renaissance The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginning in Italy in the late 14th cen ...

style, the house was actually in the

Strawberry Hill Gothic Strawberry Hill House—often called simply Strawberry Hill—is a Gothic Revival villa that was built in Twickenham, London, by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) from 1749 onward. It is a typical example of the "Strawberry Hill Gothic" style of arc ...

style popularised by

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whig politician. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twi ...

bought the estate at Tong in 1764 and commissioned

Lancelot "Capability" Brown Lancelot Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English gardener and landscape architect, who remains the most famous figure in the history of the English la ...

to provide plans for rebuilding the castle and to improve the landscape around the castle in 1765. Brown's account book shows a charge to Durant in 1765 for "Various Plans for the alterations of Tong Castle. My Journeys there several times" covering both the house and grounds, and making it Brown's first commission in Shropshire. Water features north and south of the castle were altered to create Church or North Pool and the serpentine South Pool and two larger lakes were added built following

's plans. The kitchen garden was moved further from the house and it is suggested that Brown was responsible for installing an ice house. The Tudor Tong Castle was remodelled in the Gothic style, only retaining the main block of the 16th Century red-brick castle. Some of the stone from the college that had stood near Tong church was reused in the new building. Walpole's Gothic house at Strawberry Hill was begun in 1749, expanded in 1760, and completed in 1776. Thus the comparatively early date of 1765 for Tong Castle to be erected in this fairly rare style would today have made Tong of the highest architectural grading class. The crenellated towers and pediments coupled with the paned, rather than traditional Gothic leaded, windows crowned by

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 combinati ...

curves are typical of this style, as too are the generous bay windows with circular windows and

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

motif Motif may refer to: General concepts * Motif (chess composition), an element of a move in the consideration of its purpose * Motif (folkloristics), a recurring element that creates recognizable patterns in folklore and folk-art traditions * Moti ...

s in the upper levels. The later 19th-century Gothic tended to be more

ecclesiastical {{Short pages monitor