Dundurn Castle

Dundurn Castle
Established	1960s
Location	York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Type	Regency chateau
Website	Official site
National Historic Site of Canada
Designated:	1984

Dundurn Castle (back)

Dundurn Castle is a historic neoclassical mansion on York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m²) house took three years and $175,000.00 to build, and was completed in 1835.^[1] The seventy-two room castle featured the latest conveniences of gas lighting and running water.^[1] It is currently owned by the City of Hamilton who purchased it in 1900 for $50,000.^[1] The City has spent nearly $3 million renovating the site to make 42 of the original 72 rooms open to the public.^[1] The rooms have been restored to the year 1855 when its owner Sir Allan Napier MacNab, 1st Baronet, was at the height of his career. Costumed interpreters guide visitors through the home, illustrating daily life from the 1850s.

History

Dundurn Castle, a Regency house, was completed in 1835 by architect Robert Charles Wetherell. ^[2] MacNab purchased the property from Richard Beasley, one of Hamilton's early settlers, when financial difficulties forced Beasley to sell lands at Burlington Heights (present day Dundurn Park), and MacNab built Dundurn Castle on the foundations of Beasley's brick home. ^[3] Once built, Dundurn Castle became famous all over the country for its grand entertainments. Sir John A. Macdonald and King Edward VII are among those who have been entertained there.^[4]

Sir Allan MacNab, later prime minister of the united Province of Canada between 1854 and 1856, hired architect Robert Wetherall and construction of this stately home was completed in 1835. It became the property of the City of Hamilton and, in the late 1960s, it was restored as a Centennial project. It is now designated as a National Historic Site of Canada.

A Strathspey for bagpipes was composed in honour of Dundurn Castle. ^[5]

Hamilton Military Museum

The park includes Hamilton Military Museum, which is housed in an outbuilding which was relocated when York Street was widened as York Boulevard in the 1970s. Displays include the War of 1812, the Rebellions of 1837, the Boer War, World War I, World War II and the role of women in the military. Artifacts include uniforms, medals, weapons, photographs and other military memorabilia. The museum also features a library with materials about Canadian military history, which is open by appointment.

Grounds

Dundurn Park, Aviary building

Dundurn Castle operates as a civic museum, and its grounds house other attractions. Dundurn Park and its associated green spaces are favourites for wedding portraits. The Cockpit Theatre occasionally housed outdoor events and dramas.

A large German artillery piece, booty from the First World War, was removed from the southeastern part of the park in the mid-1980s. Until about 1990, it housed an aviary which was moved to the Westdale neighbourhood. The former covered pavilion offered picnickers protection from the cold, but in the last few years a walled garden was put in its place. The gates at the front entrance of the park originally came over from England, but the stone pillars were cut from the Dundas mountain. In 1931, parts of the gates were removed and taken to the Chedoke Golf Club.^[4]

Dundurn Park, "Mystery building"

There is a "Mystery building" at Dundurn Park, just east of Dundurn Castle; no one really knows the purpose for which it was built. Historians feel it may have been a theatre, a laundry, a boat-house, an office, or a chapel for Sir Allan's Roman Catholic wife. Urban legend has it that many underground tunnels were built, leading from the Castle to various parts of the estate and one of the entrances was through the "Mystery building."^[4] This mystery building may have also been used as a cockfighting ring.^[6][7]

Sir Allan Napier MacNab was originally buried in 1862 on the Dundurn Park grounds between Dundurn Castle and Castle Dean on the corner of Locke Street and Tecumseh Street. In 1909, his body was removed and taken to Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in west Hamilton.^[4] His grave was unmarked until 1967 when the Canadian Club of Hamilton placed a bench and gravemarker in 1967.^[8]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Dalby, Paul (2006-06-29). "MacNab's 'castle' home makes a grand statement". Toronto Star (Canada) (Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd.): p. H06. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rch&AN=6FP0950874946&site=ehost-live. Retrieved 2006-12-19. 
2. ^ Pound, Richard W. (2005). 'Fitzhenry and Whiteside Book of Canadian Facts and Dates'. Fitzhenry and Whiteside. 
3. ^ Bailey, Thomas Melville (1981). Dictionary of Hamilton Biography (Vol I, 1791-1875). W.L. Griffin Ltd. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Watson, Milton (1938). Saga of a City. The Hamilton Spectator. 
5. ^ Archie Cairns - Book 1 Pipe Music 'Dundurn Castle (1992)' Strathspey 1995
6. ^ http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=12341
7. ^ James Elliot (November 30, 1992). "Digging into Dundurn's past Team finds hearth built by pioneer". http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/514674661.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT. Retrieved 20110926. 
8. ^ Allan Napier MacNab (1798 - 1862) - Find A Grave Memorial

See also

• List of castles
• List of attractions in Hamilton, Ontario

External links

• Dundurn Castle

Coordinates: 43°16′10″N 79°53′05″W / 43.269481°N 79.884649°W / 43.269481; -79.884649