- Sizergh Castle & Garden
Sizergh Castle & Garden is a
castle ,stately home andgarden inSizergh ,Cumbria ,England , about four miles south ofKendal , and in the care of the National Trust.The Deincourt family had owned the land here since the 1170s and on the marriage of Elizabeth Deincourt to Sir William de Stirkeland in 1239, the estate passed into the hands of what became the Strickland family, who owned it until it was gifted to the National Trust in 1950. The family still inhabit the estate.
The core of the
medieval castle is a 14th-centurypele tower surrounded by a Tudor house. It was extended in Elizabethan times and hasoak panelled interiors, including the Inlaid Chamber, furnished with period furniture and panelling inlaid withpoplar andoak . (The contents of the Inlaid Chamber had been sold to theVictoria and Albert Museum . During the last part of the 20th century, the V&A starting loaning the panelling back piecemeal. The entirety of the panelling was restored in 1999 under a long-term loan.) Around 1770 the great hall was again expanded in the Georgian style.The estate covers 6.38 square kilometres (1600 acres), in the midst of which is a garden including two lakes as well as an award-winning
rock garden . The estate dates from 1336, when a grant from Edward III allowed Sir Walter Strickland to enclose the land around Sizergh as his exclusive park. The rock garden is the largestlimestone rock garden belonging to the National Trust and includes part of the National Collection of hardyfern s.The Castle contains some good paintings, including portraits by
Alexis Simon Belle of Queen Mary of Modena and her daughter Princess Louisa Maria. [Corp, Edward, "Belle, Alexis-Simon (1674–1734)" inOxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, September 2004)]See also
*
Castles in England
*List of historic houses in England
*Strickland (surname) References
External links
* [http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-sizerghcastlegarden/ Sizergh Castle & Garden information at the National Trust]
* [http://www.gardenvisit.com/g/siz.htm Sizergh Castle garden]
* [http://www.english-lakes.com/sizergh_castle.html Illustratd guide to Sizergh Castle]
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