Essentially a Jacobean building, it was built in 1608-10 as a hunting lodge for Thomas Howard, the third Lord Bindon. It became the family seat of the prominent Catholic Weld family when Humphrey Weld purchased it from Lord Bindon in 1641. After the disastrous fire of 1929 which gutted the castle, it lay derelict for many years, until it was restored by English Heritage in 1998. The park and its estate continues in the hands of the Weld family today, but English Heritage now care for the castle. Grade I Listed. Photo by Mike Searle. Please click on the photo for more information about Mike Searle.
