Castle Howard

Situated amongst the Howardian Hills between York and Malton, Castle Howard is one of my favourite homes in North Yorkshire to visit.

The actual building of the house began in the late 17th Century and took over 100 years to complete. It was the 3rd Earl of Carlisle who asked his friend the dramatist and architect John Vanbrugh to design and construct Castle Howard. Unfortunately Vanbrugh had no building experience at the time so he enlisted the help of Nicholas Hawksmoor a leading Baroque architect to assist him. The design phase of the project took around three years to complete. (Vanbrugh went on to design Blenheim Palace)  The house soon started to take shape and by 1725 most of the exterior structure was complete, unfortunately at the time of Vanbrough’s death in 1726 the house was still incomplete, there was no west wing. It was still incomplete in 1738 when the 3rd Earl died. It was the late Earls son in law Sir Thomas Robinson who continued the project and built the West wing with Henry Howard the 4th Earl of Carlisle and it was they who were responsible for the Palladian style of the West wing, compared to the East wing!

Today the house is a popular stately home set in 1,000 acres of the Howardian Hills, it is a thriving rural estate. Within the courtyard are the farm shop, gift shop and book shop along with a fine cafeteria. The Walled Gardens are a place to visit any time of year but through the summer months the borders look magnificent with colour and the scent from the flower beds wafting through the air just about takes your breath away..

I have to say though that one of my favourite times to visit the house is during the run up to Christmas when the home is lavishly decorated througout, the cafeterias and restaraunt also do serve some excellent meals too.  

Left 'click' on the images below to expand the gallery.

Monday 22nd June 2020
Friday 18th March 2022
Friday 25th March 2022
Friday 29th April 2022
Wednesday 25th May 2022
Monday 30th May 2022
Monday 4th July 2022
Treasures of Castle Howard. 24th August 2022
Tuesday 30th August 2022
Thursday 10th February 2022
Saturday 1st January 2022
Tuesday 4th August 2020
Wednesday 31st March 2021.
Tuesday 20th April 2021
Tuesday 18th May 2021
Tuesday 15th June 2021
Monday 8th November 2021
Friday 19th November 2021
Monday 13th December 2021
Friday 14th October 2022
Friday 2nd December 2022
Monday 2nd January 2023
Friday 19th January 2024
Monday 19th February 2024
Monday 18th March 2024
Friday 12th April 2024
Thursday 9th May 2024
Thursday 6th June 2024
Thursday 13th June 2024
Friday 16th August 2024
Wednesday 6th December 2023
Friday 10th November 2023
Friday 20th January 2023
Thursday 9th February 2023
Tuesday 14th March 2023
Thursday 30th March 2023
Thursday 18th May 2023
Friday 30th June 2023
Friday 21st July 2023
Friday 18th August 2023
Thursday 12th September 2024
Monday 16th March 2020
The Yorkshire Arboretum
The Atlas Fountain
Flying Scotsman Vintage Car Rally
The South Lake
Xmas at Castle Howard 2016
Daffodil Azalia walk 21 March 2017
Ray Wood
The South Lake and Ray Woods
Classic Car Rally 2017
Inside Castle Howard
Spring at Castle Howard
Autumn
Christmas
The House
Temple of Four Winds
Mausoleum
The Chapel
The Walled Garden
Flower Festival June 2015
Bentley Drivers Club
The Walled Garden. Sunday 9th July 2017
Food Fair Saturday 29th July 2017
Thursday 10th January 2019
Tuesday 5th February 2019
Saturday 9th March 2019
Monday 18th March 2019
Monday 27th May 2019
Saturday 8th June 2019
Friday 15th November 2019
Friday 24th January 2020
Twelve Days of Christmas 2018
Wednesday 3rd October 2018
Monday 9th October 2017
Wednesday 8th November 2017
Tuesday 28th November 2017
Thursday 11 Jan 2018
Monday 22nd January 2018
Wednesday 14th March 2018
Thursday 19th April 2018
Thursday 28th June 2018. Flower Festival
Wednesday 26th February 2020