Castle Drogo – Drewsteignton, Devon
Castle Drogo is situated on the cusp of Dartmoor and offers a fantastic panoramic view of Dartmoor and the Teign Gorge directly below. Castle Drogo is dubbed the last castle in England due to the fact it was completed only seventy years ago by Sir Edward Luteyns (famous for many architectural designs and renovations in the early 20th century) on the instruction of Julius Drewe who had made his fortune in the Home and Colonial Stores Company.
Now managed by the National Trust, Castle Drogo was given to the Trust in 1974 by the Drew family. Castle Drogo is the highest castle in England at 847m above sea level, and being open to the elements suffers from leaks notably on the roof, windows and brickwork. The National Trust is currently in the middle of a £6m project to solve this problem using modern materials. The roof in particular suffers the most due to its flat nature and asphalt composition, which at the time was a new roofing technique which involved importing the materials from the Caribbean. Unfortunately, the harsh Dartmoor weather quickly dried and cracked the asphalt allowing the rain to seep in. The National Trust is confident the problems can be overcome at Castle Drogo and have already renovated the chapel roof and bell tower.
Castle Drogo is a stunning building, and a testament to Luteyn’s vision and the 100 or so men who built the granite stone building between 1911 and 1930. It was originally intended that Castle Drogo was to be a grander affair but time and money constraints meant sacrifices and revisions had to be made to the original plans. Even so, the castle looks magnificent and is well worth a visit.
Admission to the castle and garden is about £7 (free to National Trust members) and offers amazing rooms, views and portraits to its visitors. The cafe at the end of tour was also very welcoming and on this particular day was selling parsnip soup which was a must given the cold Dartmoor weather.
For more information visit the National Trust Website.
This entry was posted on Wednesday March 19th, 2008 at 7:50 AM and is filed under Places to Visit. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.
Leave a Reply
Where Can I Go Exploring the UK and Abroad