Sunday, April 15, 2007

Budby Castle, Budby


In the graveyard of St John's Church, Perlethorpe, is the grave of William Scott, "Captain of the Mary", who died in 1756. Captain William had no doubt sailed a boat called Mary upon Thoresby Lake for Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of kingston. He must have been a popular and respected member of the Duke's workforce because in 1756 the "castle" which was built in Budby to house the boat crews was named Castle William. This was the same year Charles (Medows) Pierrepont, 1st Earl Manvers, came to Thoresby.

Castle William was designed by John Carr and records show that in 1816 Charles Herbert Pierrepont, 2nd Earl Manvers, still had a crew stationed there. This practice continued through to 1851 when Captain Percy was living there in charge of the boats. However, by that time it is likely that Evelyn's lavish collection had subsided into a practical "fleet" engaged more with fishing and maintenance than public display.

From the late 19th Century to the 1920's Castle William became increasingly referred to as Budby Castle, the ivy covered home to successive Clerke of Works for Thoresby Estate. Names include Thomas Wickford Potter in 1895, William C Orkney in 1900, Henry Hill in 1904, and William Arundel Bonner in 1922.

Above: Lady Manvers would have made this plein air water colour sketch at the west end of Thoresby Lake, looking south west. The silhouetted battlements of Budby Castle can be seen beneath the sun. The bridge leading across to Thoresby is capture by a simple stroke of the brush middle right.

It is not known exactly when such links to Thoresby Hall came to and end, but please note and respect that Budby Castle is now a private residence, standing on private property. This photograph, taken for historic purposes, avoided all invasion into the residential aspect of the property.

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5 Comments:

Blogger robin hood said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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Blogger robin hood said...

Budby Castle, Budby.

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Anonymous Penny Bradford said...

My Grandma and Grandad lived in Budby, and I spent a lot of my childhood there. Their house had a view of Budby Castle. My Grandad worked as a cabinet maker at Thoresby Hall. (His surname was Dudley) and my Auntie Vera, who lived next door to Grandma and Grandad Dudley, was given several paintings to look after. I think they were by Lady Manvers, or Lady Roselle. When Vera died a few years ago, I`m sure the paintings went back to the Estate. Also, when I was a little girl, I was given a music chair by Lord Manvers. which I unfortunately dont have any longer. I`m very interested to know anything about my Grandfather in his cabinet making days. I am Penny Bradford, and my e-mail address is penelope641@aol.com Thankyou.

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Anonymous Ben Scott said...

My grandparents also lived in budby and my grandad used to work for the estate for the forestry commission. I also knew auntie Vera ( although she wasnt actually my auntie as I suspect not yours either in family terms). I used to go and visit when I was a lot younger and remember her budgie and she always gave me a kit kat.... I know the grounds around budby and budby castle quite well as my grandad used to take me walking up there.... There is a really odd pyramid shaped folly which I remember quite vividly from walking up there that used to be under forest cover but can now be viewed on google maps as the trees have since been cut down. My email is ben.Scott@Whitbread.com...

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Blogger robin hood said...

Hi Ben.

The "really odd pyramid" can be viewed here:

http://thoresby.blogspot.com/2009/10/thoresby-park-thoresby-estate-various.html

It was built in 1799 by Charles Herbert, specifically to commemorate Nelson’s victory at the Battle of the Nile.

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