Castles

Augill Castle, Cumbria

There’s a laid-back atmosphere that makes you feel immediately at home in this wonderfully over-the-top Victorian vision of a medieval castle.

The Victorians had their own view about what a medieval castle should look like, and this folly is the result - a wonderfully over-the-top stone composition with lots of turrets, Gothic windows and a crenelated roof. Completed in 1841 to give John Bagot Pearson a weekend retreat to play at medieval banqueting with his friends, Augill has an imposing exterior.

Inside, though, an easygoing atmosphere reigns. Polly the Labrador and Sooty the cat form the welcoming committee in the hall with its stunning Tudor panelling. Here, instead of a reception desk, you’ll find leather sofas made for sinking into, walls bedecked with copper warming pans and stags’ heads, and the mesmerising tick of a clock.

Owners Simon and Wendy Bennett do everything they can to make staying at Augill like spending a weekend with friends. This is a real home to relax in – the 15 acres of grounds aren’t manicured to perfection and you won’t feel obliged to pick up your book every time you get up from a quiet read. Return from a walk in the country – and Augill, in the Eden Valley, is surrounded by Britain at its scenic best – and you can kick off your wellies by the door without causing a scandal.

The heart of the castle and the place to gather after a long day exploring is the enormous music room, with its wood floor, oak panelling, brick fireplace, piano, and more than enough chairs for everyone. It’s one of four magnificent public rooms, all large and opulent, with old books scattered around, open fireplaces or wood-burning stoves, and lots of antiques and artefacts in nooks and crannies. There’s also another drawing room, more Georgian in style than the music room, where you’ll find the honesty bar.

Perhaps the most striking décor is in the dining room, with its blue-panelled ceiling and long wooden table that seats 24. In the evening, this is tarted up with tablecloths and candelabra for a five-course meal that’s big on locally sourced modern British food. Breakfast, which rarely starts before nine and continues until the last person struggles downstairs, sees the table groaning with homemade bread, the best Cumberland bacon, local oak-smoked salmon and free-range eggs from the farm next door.

Upstairs, eight magnificent bedrooms are filled with antique furniture and furnishings to match – expect four-poster beds, wood panelling and carved fireplaces, with wardrobes in turrets. The bathrooms mostly have roll-top baths (one even has a four-poster canopy) with the taps considerately placed in the middle so two can share.

Another two rooms on the ground floor can only be accessed from outside. Done up with modern furnishings, they don’t have the same wow factor as the castle rooms – one is quite small and set behind a large walk-through conservatory that together with the bedroom forms a kind of suite – but they are ideal for elderly guests wanting a bit of a breather from the house-party atmosphere.

For groups larger than 20, there is a duplex cottage sleeping four adjacent to the folly, Simply furnished and with bedrooms much smaller than those in the main building, it’s nonetheless ideal for families, with a large living space and kitchen.

For the real castle experience and a taste of the high life, you can’t really go wrong at Augill. It’s a far cry from the castle’s previous incarnations – as well as being a boarding school, a nursing home, and a correction facility for boys, Augill has housed some colourful residents, including a surgeon general to Queen Victoria and a suspect in the Jack the Ripper case.

But you can rest easy in your four-posters – none of them has returned to haunt the castle.