Lowther Castle

Lowther Castle is a ruined country house in Lowther, Cumbria, England. The estate has belonged to the Lowther family, latterly the earls of Lonsdale, since the Middle Ages. The house was largely built between 1806 and 1814 for William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale and designed by Robert Smirke in his first major commission. It incorporates fragments of the previous house on the site, which was completed in 1685 for John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale. It is open to the public and is a grade II* listed building. The house takes the form of a sham castle, and was known as Lowther Hall before the 1806 rebuilding. It consists of a nine-bay central block with angle turrets, a porte-cochère on the entrance front, and a larger tower in the centre, which is linked by low wings to angle pavilions; the whole building is embattled. The windows are a mixture of Gothic pointed arches and flat-topped in the Tudor style. There is a service wing to the east. In front of the house is a large forecourt enclosed a battlemented wall containing several turrets and a gatehouse. The house was closed by the Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale in 1935 and partly used as a tank training range during World War II. The contents were sold in 1947 and the roof removed in 1957. The castle is owned by the Lowther estate and leased by the Lowther Castle and Gardens Trust, which in turn sub-leases the castle back to the estate. The wider estate is currently undergoing rewilding.