Castle’s future secure after £15m restoration
FOLLOWING nine years of major conservation work, the National Trust’s ambitious project to save Castle Drogo is complete.
The landmark is the last castle to have been constructed in Britain, between 1911 and 1931, by the renowned architect Edwin Lutyens. It was built for Julius Drewe, a food retailing magnate, whose dream was to create an imposing ancestral home situated on a granite outcrop overlooking Dartmoor that would appear to have existed for hundreds of years.
However, the castle has suffered major structural problems ever since its completion which resulted in leaks and water penetration throughout the building.
In 2011 the National Trust launched a successful fundraising appeal to secure its future and work to repair the massive flat roof structure, using cutting-edge materials to make it permanently watertight, started in 2013.
The repair of the castle presented a major challenge which cost a total of £15.5 million and took almost nine years. In order to install the new roof system, over 3000 granite blocks weighing up to 1.4 tonnes had to be temporarily removed. More than 900 windows containing over 13,000 panes have been refurbished to stop them leaking and over 60,000 metres of pointing has been replaced.
The National Trust said the repairs would not have been possible without the massive support of the public and individual donors who raised over £800,000 to support the project alongside funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Interreg, the Department of Culture Media and Sport through the Culture Recovery Fund and others.
Tim Cambourne, National Trust project manager, said: “The distinctive nature of the original construction and design at Castle Drogo required a unique solution to deal with the fabric issues.
“We have now installed a hightech roof system over an area roughly equivalent to two football pitches. A new two-layer membrane, designed to cope with the extremes of weather experienced on Dartmoor, now works alongside newly designed roof gullies to accommodate the heavy Dartmoor rainfall, protecting the castle from water damage. This, alongside the work that’s taken place to repoint the entire building and refurbish all 913 windows, represents conservation work on a monumental scale.”
Ben Dale, collections and house manager at Castle Drogo, added: “It’s wonderful to see the castle looking its best and we’re looking forward to an exciting programme of conservation and curation over the next few years.”
Heather Kay, general manager at Castle Drogo, said: “The castle is regarded as a masterpiece of 20th century architecture and its future has now been secured.”
The castle is open daily until 30 October 2022.
For more information visit: nationaltrust.org.uk/castle-drogo