{{Short description|Historic house in Cumbria, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Use British English|date=February 2023}} [[File:Sizergh Castle.jpg|thumb|Sizergh Castle, [[solar tower]] and Tudor house]] '''Sizergh Castle ''' ({{IPAc-en|'|s|ai|z|@r}}) is a [[stately home]] with [[garden]] and estate at [[Helsington]] in [[Cumbria]], England, about {{convert|4|mi|km|0}} south of [[Kendal]]. Located in [[Historic counties of England|historic]] [[Westmorland]], the [[castle]] is a Grade I [[listed building]].<ref name="EH">{{National Heritage List for England |num=1318962 |grade=I |desc=Sizergh Castle |access-date=10 July 2015}}</ref> While remaining the home of the Hornyold-[[Strickland (surname)|Strickland family]], the castle with its garden and estate is in the care of the [[National Trust]].
In 2016 the Sizergh estate was included in the newly extended [[Lake District National Park]].<ref name="BBC">{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34614556 | title=Yorkshire Dales and Lake District national parks to be extended |publisher=BBC News | date=23 October 2015 | access-date=6 August 2016}}</ref>
== Details == [[File:Sizergh Castle against a blue sky, July 2016.jpg|thumb|The tower at Sizergh Castle, as viewed from the South]] The earliest part of the building is a tower of fourteenth or fifteenth century date.<ref name="EH" />
=== Woodwork ===
Some of the early furnishings date from the time of [[Walter Strickland (died 1569)|Walter Strickland]] (1516–1569) who married Alice Tempest in 1560. She made inventories of the house after her husband's death. These mention three oak armchairs and three chests still in the house.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Megan |last=Wheeler |url=https://regionalfurnituresociety.org/publications/journal/backjournals |title=Early Elizabethan Chests at Sizergh Castle |journal=Regional Furniture |volume=32 |date=2018 |pages=103–25 |publisher=Regional Furniture Society |access-date=28 December 2021}}</ref>
There are [[oak]]-panelled interiors, including the Inlaid Chamber, where the panelling is inlaid with floral and geometric patterns in pale poplar and dark [[Bog oak|bog-oak]]. The contents of the Inlaid Chamber were sold to the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] in the 1890s and it was displayed as a reconstructed [[period room]]. The return of the panelling to its original location at Sizergh was advocated by among others [[Mark Girouard]], an authority on England's country houses. The panelling returned in 1999 under a long-term loan.<ref name="VandA">{{cite web | url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/l/loans-and-exhibitions/ | title=Inlaid Room at Sizergh Castle | publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum | access-date=31 March 2015}}</ref> In 2017 it was reported that transfer of ownership to the National Trust had been made formal.<ref name="Guardian">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/jan/02/va-returns-tudor-bedroom-to-original-sizergh-castle-setting |title=V&A returns Tudor bedroom to original Sizergh Castle setting |last=Kennedy |first=Maev |date=2 January 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=23 June 2021}}</ref>
The [[bargeboard]]s on the gables probably date from the seventeenth century.
=== Paintings === The Castle contains a variety of paintings, including the following:
* a collection of portraits of the [[Jacobite succession|Catholic Royal Stuart family]] reflects the Strickland family's links to the Jacobite court in exile at [[Saint-Germain-en-Laye]] in France. There are portraits by [[Alexis Simon Belle]], [[painter in ordinary]] to [[James II of England|James VII & II]] and the [[Old Pretender]], of Queen [[Mary of Modena]] and her daughter [[Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart|Princess Louisa Maria]].<ref>{{Cite ODNB|title=Belle, Alexis-Simon |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/46466 |first=Edward |last=Corp |date=23 September 2004}}</ref> * Strickland family portraits, including **works by local artist [[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/998426 |title=Walter Strickland (1729–1761) |publisher=National Trust Collections |access-date=23 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Savannah |last=Nicholson |date=19 March 2020 |url=https://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/18316954.18th-century-romney-painting-returns-sizergh-castle/ |title=18th century Romney painting returns to Sizergh Castle |newspaper=Westmorland Gazette |access-date=23 June 2021}}</ref> **a portrait of Mrs. Anne Strickland (the artist's mother) by Harriet Strickland (1816–1903),<ref>{{cite web |title=Anne Cholmeley (1796–1829), Mrs. Jarrard Edward Strickland (the artist's mother) |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/anne-cholmeley-17961829-mrs-jarrard-edward-strickland-132140 |access-date=23 June 2021 |publisher=Art UK}}</ref> and a portrait of Lady Edeline Sackville.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/lady-edeline-sackville-18701918-lady-strickland-132135 |title=Lady Edeline Sackville (1870–1918), Lady Strickland |publisher=Art UK |access-date=23 June 2021}}</ref>
=== Portraits gallery ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="220px"> Image: Mary Matthews (1823-1890), Madame de La Chère (05).jpg|Mary Matthews (1823–1890), Mrs. Julien-Francois-Bertrand de La Chère Image: Alice de La Chere.jpg|Marie Louise Geneviève Alice de La Chère (1856–1943), wife of Alfred Joseph Gandolfi-Hornyold (1850–1922) Image: Lord Thomas Strickland Standish (1763-1813).jpg|Thomas Strickland Standish (1763–1813), Lord of [[Standish Hall]] Image: Henriette Rose Peronne de Sercey (05).jpg|Henriette Rose Peronne de Sercey (1770–1849) by [[François Gérard]] Image: Thomas Strickland Standish of Sizergh (1792-1835).jpg|Thomas Strickland Standish of Sizergh (1792–1835) Image: Gasparine Ursule Ida de Finguerlin de Bischingen (05).jpg|Ursule Ida de Finguerlin de Bischingen (1805–1846), Mrs. Thomas Strickland Standish of Sizergh </gallery>
==History== The [[Deincourt family]] owned this land from the 1170s. On the marriage of Elizabeth Deincourt to Sir William de Stirkeland in 1239, the estate passed into the hands of what became the [[Strickland (surname)|Strickland]] family, who owned it until it was gifted to the [[National Trust]] in 1950 by [[Lieutenant commander (Royal Navy)|Lieutenant Commander]] Thomas Hornyold-Strickland, 7th [[Count]] della Catena, [[Royal Navy|R.N.]], a grandson of [[Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland|the 1st Baron Strickland]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Meet Henry Hornyold-Strickland, Sizergh|url=http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/article-1355807867628/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150429011058/http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/article-1355807867628/|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 April 2015|publisher=[[National Trust]]}}</ref>
[[Katherine Parr]], the [[Wives of Henry VIII|sixth wife]] of [[Henry VIII]] and a relative of the Stricklands, is thought to have lived here after her first husband, [[Edward Burgh (knight)|Sir Edward Burgh]], died in 1533. Katherine's second husband, [[John Neville, 3rd Baron Latimer|Lord Latymer]], was kin to the [[dowager]] Lady Strickland, Katherine Neville.<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=Susan E. |title=Katherine Parr: Henry VIII's Last Love |date=2009 |publisher=The History Press |isbn=978-0752448534 |page=56}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Linda |last=Porter |authorlink=Linda Porter (historian) |title=Katherine the Queen |publisher=Macmillan |date=2010 |page=58 |isbn=978-0330460804}}</ref>
It was extended in [[Elizabethan era|Elizabethan]] times. [[Thomas Strickland (Cavalier)|Sir Thomas Strickland]] went into exile with [[James II of England|King James II and VII]].
Around 1770, the great hall was again expanded in the [[Georgian era|Georgian]] style.
==Gardens== [[File:Sizergh Castle garden.jpg|thumb|Sizergh Castle and part of the garden]] The gardens are [[Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England|registered Grade II]].<ref name="EHgard">{{NHLE|num=1000673|desc=Garden |access-date=22 May 2022}}</ref> There is a lake, a kitchen garden and a [[rock garden]]. The rock garden, constructed in the 1920s, is the largest [[limestone]] rock garden belonging to the National Trust.
Sizergh houses part of the [[National Plant Collection|National Collection]] of [[fern]]s, which are to be seen in the rock garden, the [[stumpery]] and the orchard.
==Estate== In 1336 a grant from [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] allowed Sir Walter Strickland to enclose the land around Sizergh as his exclusive park.
The estate covers {{convert|647|ha|acre}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/home/item273909/ |title=Sizergh – Visitor information |publisher=National Trust |access-date=3 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111084944/http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/home/item273909/ |archive-date=11 November 2012 }}</ref>
===Biodiversity===
There are various types of habitat on the estate. For example, in 2014 it was reported that 35 [[Hectare|ha]] of wetland habitat was being created in the [[Lyth Valley]] on the western edge of the estate. The project received funding from [[Natural England]] as part of a [[Environmental stewardship (England)|higher level stewardship scheme]]. It is hoped to attract [[Eurasian bittern|bittern]] and other wildlife.<ref name="WG">{{cite news | url=http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/farm_and_country/11541212.Park_End_Moss_aims_to_bring_wildlife_flooding_in/ |title=Park End Moss aims to bring wildlife flooding in | newspaper=[[Westmorland Gazette]] |date=16 October 2014 |access-date=21 November 2014 |last=Dickinson |first=Katie}}</ref>
Sizergh has received support from the Morecambe Bay [[Nature Improvement Area]] which was launched in 2012. It received three years of government grant funding (2012–15). Projects continue under the auspices of the Morecambe Bay Partnership, a registered charity.<ref name="LNP" />
====Birds==== The Sizergh estate is a good place to see birds. For example, [[hawfinch]]es are attracted to [[Carpinus betulus|hornbeam]] trees around the main car park, and despite being a shy species can often be seen there in the spring.<ref name="wildlife">{{cite web |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sizergh/features/wildlife-at-sizergh |title=Wildlife at Sizergh |publisher=National Trust |access-date=23 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="LNP">{{cite web | url=http://www.morecambebaynature.org.uk/hawfinch-recovery-project | title=Hawfinch recovery project | publisher=Morecambe Bay Local Nature Partnership | access-date=7 April 2017}}</ref>
====Butterflies==== [[Argynnis|Fritillary butterflies]] (including [[pearl-bordered fritillary|pearl-bordered]] and [[high brown fritillary]]) live on the estate.<ref name="wildlife" />
===Sizergh Fell=== '''Sizergh Fell''' is a hill of {{cvt|123|m}}, about {{cvt |1|km}} south-west of the castle. It is classified by the [[Database of British and Irish Hills]] as a [[Tump (hill)|Tump]] (Thirty and Upwards Metres Prominence).<ref>{{cite web |title=Sizergh Fell |url=https://www.hill-bagging.co.uk/mountaindetails.php?rf=16288 |website=Hill Bagging |access-date=17 September 2023}}</ref> It has been suggested that a group of stones on the fell form the remains of a stone circle.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sizergh Fell Stone Circle |url=https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=54190 |publisher=Megalithic Portal |access-date=17 September 2023}}</ref>
==Literary and media interest== The castle was featured in the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] documentary ''Inside the National Trust''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Video: 'Inside the National Trust': preview|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelvideo/10372939/Inside-the-National-Trust-preview.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012153808/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelvideo/10372939/Inside-the-National-Trust-preview.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 October 2013|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=12 October 2013}}</ref>
The room known as the Inlaid Chamber is the subject of [[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]]'s poetical illustration ''The Queen’s Room, Sizergh Hall, Westmorland'' to an engraving of a painting by [[Thomas Allom]], published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836.<ref>{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=2dBbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PT110|section=picture|year=1835|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=2dBbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PT112|section=poetical illustration|page=49|year=1835|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}</ref> {{wikisource|Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836/The Queen’s Room, Sizergh Hall, Westmorland|The Queen’s Room, Sizergh Hall, Westmorland,<br> a poetical illustration<br />by L. E. L.}}
==See also== {{Portal|gardening|Cumbria}} * [[Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria]] * [[Listed buildings in Helsington]] * [[Castles in Great Britain and Ireland]] * [[List of historic houses in England]] * [[Strickland (surname)]] * [[Strickland-Constable baronets]] * [[Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== *{{cite book |first=Michael Waistell |last=Taylor |chapter=Sizergh Castle |title=The Old Manorial Halls of Westmorland & Cumberland (Publications of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, Extra Series, volume 8) |location=Kendal |publisher=Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society |date=1892 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/publications08cumb/page/182 |pages=182–198}} *{{cite book |first=Michael Waistell |last=Taylor |title=Sizergh, No. 1 |date=1889 |series=10 Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society |page=48 |doi=10.5284/1064162}} *{{cite book |first=John F |last=Curwen |title=Sizergh, No. 2 |date=1889 |series=10 Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society |url=https://archive.org/details/transactionsofcu10cumb/page/66 |page=66 |doi=10.5284/1064161}} *{{cite journal |first=Ian |last=Goodall |title=Privacy, Display and Over Extension: Walter Strickland's Rebuilding of Sizergh |date=September 2002 |doi=10.1017/S0003581500073789 |journal=The Antiquaries Journal |volume=82 |pages=197–245 |publisher=The Society of Antiquaries of London|s2cid=162616633 }} *"Helsington: Sizergh Castle, Sizergh" (2007) [https://books.google.com/books?id=SodnAAAAMAAJ 7] Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archeological Society (Third Series) 257 {{Doi|10.5284/1064350}} *{{cite book |first=Anthony |last=Emery |chapter=Sizergh Castle |title=Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1996 |volume=1 (Northern England) |pages=248–250 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D8vhhaR3JxsC&pg=PA249 |isbn=978-0521497237}} *{{cite book |first=Plantagenet Somerset |last=Fry |chapter=Sizergh |title=Castles of Britain and Ireland |publisher=BCA by arrangement with David & Charles |date=1996 |page=181 |isbn=978-0789202789}} *{{cite book |first=Edeline Sackville |last=Strickland |title=Sizergh Castle, Westmoreland, and Notes on Twenty-five Generations of the Strickland Family |publisher=T Wilson |date=1898 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GfM1AQAAMAAJ}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Sizergh Castle}} *[https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sizergh Sizergh Castle & Garden information at the National Trust] *[http://www.gardenvisit.com/g/siz.htm Sizergh Castle garden] *{{Art UK venue}} *[https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata%3AWikiProject_sum_of_all_paintings%2FCollection%2FSizergh_Castle_and_Garden wikidata List of paintings at Sizergh Castle] *[http://www.english-lakes.com/sizergh_castle.html Illustrated guide to Sizergh Castle] *[http://www.thecumbriadirectory.com/Tourist_Attractions/Gardens_and_Parks/garden_view.php?garden=sizergh_castle The Cumbria Directory – Sizergh Castle Garden]
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[[Category:Houses completed in the 14th century]] [[Category:Birdwatching sites in England]] [[Category:Towers completed in the 14th century]] [[Category:Castles in Cumbria]] [[Category:Peel towers in Cumbria]] [[Category:Grade II listed parks and gardens in Cumbria]] [[Category:Country houses in Cumbria]] [[Category:National Trust properties in Cumbria]] [[Category:Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum]] [[Category:Historic house museums in Cumbria]] [[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria]]