I have been asking J to take me to Castle Howard since we moved to England. Castle Howard is said one of Britain's finest stately homes. It's located outside York, a little bit over one hour drive from Harrogate. Finally J said Yes! We booked our visit for 10 am, the earliest slot of the day. I was very excited!
Before the visit, we drove to
Malton, a nice market town nearby for breakfast. The Patisserie Malton was one of a few places to be open at 8am. We were going to take-out a couple of sandwiches or something to avoid people. However, there was only one customer at a corner of the spacious dining area; we decided to have a quick breakfast there.
I had plain scrambled egg on toast. J had with smoked salmon. We shared a pot of tea. It was nice to have hot meals at a table!
We strolled in the town for a while and bought some bread and pastries at YO Bakehouse, a local bakery I bought my first Battenberg cake last time. Then it was time to go to the castle!
Castle Howard has been the house of the Carlisle branch of the Howard family for more than 300 years. The construction of Castle Howard began in 1699 by the 3rd Earl of Carlisle and hadn't completed until early 1800s. On the morning of 9th November 1940, fire destroyed great parts of the building including the rooms in the basement, principal and upper levels, as well as the dome, which collapsed into the Great Hall. The building was rebuilt and restoration work has been carried out.
The building was huge but looked somehow dingy. Was it because the great fire, the color of stones, or shadow made by the morning sunlight?
When we were around the Atlas Fountain, a centerpiece of the South Parterre of the house since the 1850s, a gardener came there and turned water on!
There was a pyramid far away, which was one of numerous 18th century monuments. I believe it was located in the private area, so we couldn't get there. It was pretty far anyway.
We did a self-house tour. We walked through the status corridor.
We took a staircase at the Great Hall with the dorm. The hall was painted and decorated with the music theme.
Walked through several rooms...
The tour took us just a part of the building. There were bare brick walls and pipes, which I guess weren't restored yet. Honestly the house wasn't impressive. I didn't find any personality or charm. I was kinda disappointed. Maybe my expectation was too high.
To be continued...
