A Cumbrian work of art
Muncaster Castle was originally built to repel raiding Scots. Yet, writes ROB DAVID, this fortification earned its place in history for providing shelter from two very different foes: Yorkist armies and German bombers
Battle-weary medieval kings, eminent Victorian architects and some of Britain’s greatest artistic treasures have all passed below Muncaster Castle’s imposing walls during its long and distinguished lifetime.
Built from distinctive red stone, and boasting a 14th-century peel tower, the castle today emanates power and permanence from its perch on the western edge of the Lake District. Yet it has seen successive waves of change – and borne witness to some of the most remarkable episodes in British history – since it first appeared in the Cumbrian landscape in the Middle Ages.
The castle, which has been owned (and occupied) by the Pennington family since 1208 (perhaps earlier), was originally built as a defence against Scottish raids into northwest England. So it began life as an austere fortress on the frontline of the violence that regularly erupted near the Anglo-Scottish border. But, starting in the 16th century, the Pennington family carried out extensive remodelling to convert the castle into a home.
Much of what can be seen today is the result of 18th and 19th-century interventions, especially those carried out by the famous Victorian architect Anthony Salvin. Visit Muncaster today and you’ll be greeted with a gothic-style building incorporating a number of state rooms, a magnificent double height octagonal library and wonderful gardens taking advantage of views over the Esk Valley and the Irish Sea.
Muncaster Castle’s rooms are full of interesting, and sometimes eccentric, treasures – none more idiosyncratic than the ‘Luck of Muncaster’. According to tradition, in 1464 (during the Wars of the Roses) Henry VI fled to Muncaster following a resounding defeat to the Yorkists at the battle of Hexham and gave Sir John Pennington a Venetian glass drinking bowl in return for shelter. Accompanying the bowl was a blessing: “As long as this bowl remains unriven, Penningtons from Muncaster never shall be driven.” Fortunately the bowl remains intact, but – perhaps for obvious reasons – it is carefully guarded!
Safe from harm
With the death of the childless Lord Pennington in 1917, the castle passed to a cousin, Sir John Frecheville Ramsden. In 1939 the director of London’s Tate Gallery asked
Sir John if, in the event of war, part of the gallery’s picture collection could be transferred to the castle for safekeeping. Sir John quickly responded in the affirmative.
And so, in great secrecy, more than
600 pictures arrived by train at nearby Ravenglass station in September 1939 and were transported to three of the castle’s state rooms. They were guarded by 10 ‘picture men’, tasked with checking that the pictures remained in good condition and undertaking conservation work. In their care were artworks by the likes of Turner, Constable, Renoir and Picasso. Yet perhaps the most famous painting to spend the war years at Muncaster was Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.
It was only in November 1945 – once the artworks had returned to London – that the press was able to reveal details of the paintings’ wartime sojourn at Muncaster. It was reported that some of the Tate Gallery employees had enjoyed their wartime experiences, while others had struggled with the location and isolation. As one put it: “Living in a castle is alright. But give me home!”
Rob David is the author of In Search of Arctic Wonders: Cumbria and the Arctic in the 18th and 19th Centuries (Kendal, 2013)
For more information, head to muncaster.co.uk
Some 600 artworks were stored in the castle’s staterooms during the Second World War