Grimsthorpe Castle, Park & Gardens
Mansion of four sides, each of different appearance reflecting the different architectural styles that have been employed here since the 13th century.
Grimsthorpe, Lincolnshire, PE10 0LY
Grimsthorpe Castle has been in the Willoughby de Eresby family for five hundred years. It was granted by Henry VIII to William, Baron Willoughby de Eresby on the occasion of his marriage to Maria de Salinas, lady-in-waiting to Katherine of Aragon, in 1516. Rising majestically from the undulating landscape of south Lincolnshire, the castle is set in extensive parkland of great antiquity, now consisting mainly of oak trees replanted in the 17th century.
It is the main front which gives the castle its grandeur and dramatic scale. The final masterpiece of Sir John Vanbrugh, architect of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard, it was commissioned in 1715 by Robert Bertie, Baron Willoughby de Eresby, to celebrate the family’s elevation to Dukes of Ancaster and Kesteven.
The Willoughby de Eresby family is one of three in England who still fulfill the hereditary office of Lord Great Chamberlain, the Monarch’s representative at the Palace of Westminster. The family’s close connection to the monarchy means that the castle is now home to a collection of very special items made for England’s Kings and Queens, including thrones and tapestries.