Castle Drogo

SX 79 SW DREWSTEIGNTON

5/25 Castle Drogo

20.2.52

GV I

Large country house, "the last castle built in England". Built between 1911 - 1930 for Julius Drewe by Sir Edwin Lutyens. It is built entirely of granite with massive ashlar facing. Plan and exterior description: built along the top and east of a high granite spur Castle Drogo has a most dramatic setting overlooking the steep-sided woooded gorge of the River Teign. Its style of construction (with solid stone walls) and appearance (with embattled parapet and even a portcullis to the main doorway) is that of a medieval castle but it was nevertheless a domestic house with large mullion-and-transomed windows containing rectangular panes of leaded glass. Well- illustrated plans and descriptions are published (see below), and these cover the interior with its furnishings and fittings. Since the house is so recent it is virtually as it was finished, complete with the original furniture, some of it designed by Lutyens. In short it is a perfectly preserved architectural masterpiece and although Luytens was prevented from realising his full scheme it must still be regarded as one of the finest C20 houses in Great Britain. Source: ASG Butler Castle Drogo, Devonshire, Parts 1 and 2. Country Life August 3, 1945 pp 200-203 and August 10, 1945 pp 244-247. National Trust, Castle Drogo guide (1982).

Listing NGR: SX7218490038