Greystoke Castle

Greystoke Castle is a country house built on a medieval site, incorporating parts of a building licensed for crenellation in 1353 for the Greystoke family. The castle suffered damage during the Civil War and was partially rebuilt in the late 17th century, with a refronting in 1710 for the Howard family, followed by mid-18th century alterations for the 10th Duke of Norfolk. A wing was added in 1789 and further alterations were made for the 11th Duke of Norfolk. Extensive refacing occurred in 1839, completed in 1846, by Anthony Salvin for Henry Howard, with additional work by Salvin following a fire in 1868, also for the same owner. Further restoration was undertaken in the mid-20th century for Stafford Howard.

The building is constructed of mixed pink and yellow sandstone ashlar, with earlier parts using large blocks of sandstone rubble, and features string courses and battlemented parapets. The roof is slate, with flat areas on the tower. Chimneys are of banded red sandstone ashlar. The castle has a left two-story, nine-bay wing, a rear angled central four-story rectangular tower, and a projecting right wing—now reduced to a single story and built around a small courtyard. The left wing is primarily Salvin's work, although set within earlier gable end walls. A central two-story porch and projecting end bays are also present. The porch features a flat-headed, chamfered doorway with a hoodmould, topped by a large mullion-and-transomed window, with a parapet carved with the Howard coat-of-arms flanked by constituent family arms. Recessed bays and projections have irregular, large mullioned-and-transomed windows. Parapet finials are heraldic supporters with pendants. The right wing projects in two stages; the first is a small angled turret, followed by a wall with three blocked Gothic windows under hoodmoulds and slit vents.

A right-angled buttress on the left return wall of the main wing contains a shouldered-arched doorway leading into a small mural chamber, while a parallel buttress has a blocked shouldered-arched upper-floor doorway, filled with an unusual inscribed socket stone. The rear of this wing was also refaced by Salvin, but its irregular form hints at earlier walls within. The rear elevation includes two stories and three bays, with a recessed right bay and projecting end bay, featuring various mullioned windows with cusped heads, a canted bay window on the left, and a two-story bay window on the right.

The tower consists of two medieval stories over a vaulted basement, with two further stories added in the late 18th century and battlements. It has 18th-century Gothic windows, with two-light windows with trefoil heads on the upper floors. The 1789 wing is now single-story and has 19th-century stone-mullioned windows and a polygonal angle tower base. Part of the courtyard wall retains a blocked pointed-arched window. The remaining courtyard is filled with 20th-century garages, a woodstore, and service rooms. The interior is largely Salvin’s work, following the 1868 fire.