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History & Tours
The Castle is open for public tours on Wednesdays & Bank Holidays between Easter & September from 1pm. Please call 01423 330927 for more details.
Allerton Castle, the ancestral home of The Lord Mowbray (created 1283), Segrave (created 1283) and Stourton (created 1448), the premier Baron of England, is the most important Gothic Revival stately home in the country.
Steeped in history, in the eighteenth century the property was owned by Prince Frederick, the brother to King George IV. It is presently preserved by The Gerald Arthur Rolph Foundation for Historic Preservation and Education.
The interior of the Castle was designed on a vast scale, with late - Gothic decoration in the style of Pugins work on the Palace of Westminster.
The Galleried Great Hall is almost 80ft high and one of the highest Baronial Halls in England. The spectacular principal staircase opens off the Great Hall under a vaulted ceiling. The carpets were made in Bucharest and the Elephant, carved from a single piece of Rosewood is from the Maharajah of Mysore’s palace. On the walls are full length portraits including works by Michael Dahl and William Dobson.
The opulent Drawing Room has a magnificent plaster ceiling and frieze, with Silk Damask on the walls. The Chandelier is opaque blue Venetian Glass and is one of a pair, the second of the chandeliers is reputed to be in the Doges Palace in Venice. Vast Rococo mirrors hang on the walls alongside French carved giltwood cherub wall scones.
The Ballroom was restored by Dr. Rolph and the spectacular fan vaulted ceiling was created. This was for many years known as the “Box Room” and during World War II was used as the Operations Room for the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The Library and Dining Room occupy the north side of Castle. The Library has its original rosewood bookcases and hand blocked wallpaper based on one of Pugins designs for the Houses of Parliament. The Dining Room is currently under restoration due to damage caused by the fire in January 2005.
The Billiard Room is home to 17th Century tapestries and a full size billiard table made by Thurston original to the house.
The Fiction of Allerton Castle that is Fact!
Frederick Augustus, better known to children of all ages as “The Grand old Duke of York” took up residence in the Castle in 1786. The 200 foot high hill, upon which the Duke built his Temple of Victory that still stands today, was constructed. Local legend suggests, the ant-like activity of constantly ascending and descending men building this gigantic mound, inspired the famous nursery rhyme concerning the Duke, his 10,000 men and the man-made Allerton Castle Hill!!