The History of Castle Hill

The Fortescue family arrived in England in 1066 from France where they had owned much land North of Paris to Cherbourg.  Their early story has it that Sir Richard le Fort saved William the Conquerors’s life at the Battle of Hastings by shielding him from his enemies, hence the family motto “Forte Scutum Salus Ducum” A Strong Shield saves the Kingdom. 

Their early lives are unknown until 1454 when Martin Fortescue married Elizabeth Denzell, a local heiress, combining her Estates with those of the Fortescue family, including the Castle Hill Estate. 

Martin Fortescue was the eldest son of Sir John Fortescue, Lord Chief Justice and Chancellor to Henry VI. He wrote the book ‘In praise of the laws of England’ which is what our legal system is still based on. The early family, spanning over 200 years, was not particularly remarkable in any way, they lived quietly at Castle Hill until after the Civil War. During which the medieval house sustained damage and rebuilding was started in 1684 by Arthur Fortescue, which we know from a plaque in the porch. 

The building is assumed to have been a rectangular block. However, it was Arthur’s grandson, Hugh Fortescue, who envisaged a far grander house than was previously there, commensurate with his political ambitions and the fashion set by other Whigs. He became Lord of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales, the future George 2nd in 1725. He claimed the barony of Clinton and became Lord Clinton, a barony by writ dating back to 1299 which came to Hugh through his mother’s family the Rolles. It was Hugh’s inspiration from a visit on the Grand Tour with his friends Lords Burlington and Lord Herbert that gave Castle Hill its Palladian style and name. Lord Herbert became 9th Earl of Pembroke and he was known as ‘Architect Earl’.  

We believe that Roger Morris designed the entablature under the direction of Lord Burlington and Lord Herbert and was the only professional architect involved in the building of the house.

In 1732 Hugh moved the Church from the west platform of the house and rebuilt it in its present position to form part of his grand landscape.  In 1733 he resigned his position at court, having fallen out with the prime minister Sir Robert Walpole, however, in 1746 George 2nd created him Earl Clinton and the 1st Baron Fortescue. He built the Rectory, Spa House, the rustic Hermitage, the rustic Bridge and Sybils’s Cave, this bridge is also known as Ugley Bridge, the latter was not adjectival; an ugley is a Devon word for a small stream. Beside it was the Satyr’s Temple. And so the list of his endeavours continues, including Sunset and Sunrise Temples, also known as The Temple in the Shrubbery, the Park Bridge in the Deer Park, The Sham Village and various other structures. 

He died childless in 1751 and his Clinton earldom became extinct. He was a very difficult character rather unloved, albeit admired by his contemporaries and was succeeded in the Fortescue Barony by his half-brother, Matthew. He married Anne Campbell, a great beauty, and there were 2 children. Matthew carried on much of the landscaping work, his taste was more of the Claudian romantic style, so the stronger influences of Lord Clinton were swept away.  He deformalised the cruciform pond to form a large lake, and a succession of small ponds and cascades. He planted distant woods, some of which have now been replanted over the years but in keeping with the original design. 

In 1770 Matthew built a beautiful Doric temple called Lord Clinton’s Temple as a memorial to his half-brother Hugh Clinton.  This temple stood on a bluff or cliff to the south-east of the house overlooking the River Bray. Matthew commissioned Sir Henry Cheere to cast lead statues for the Temple and his new garden.  Amongst which was a lead lion and lioness to guard the entrance to the first terrace. The eye was guided through Irish yews to the sphinxes seated on the lower terraces and sphinxes, then to the Arch.  There is a similar sphynx at Chiswick, Lord Burlington’s London villa and he lives in a glass box to protect him while Castle Hill’s four sit proudly on the terraces. 

Matthew was succeeded by his son Hugh as 3rd Baron Fortescue in 1785 who then became 1st Earl Fortescue in 1789, recommended by Prime Minister Pitt for political services. Hugh married Hester Grenville, sister of Lord Grenville who was Prime Minister in 1804. Between 1798 and 1802 he instructed Sir John Soane to make well documented alterations to the house including much work in the West Wing. It housed the china room, the servery, the bread ovens, the housekeeper’s room and the butler’s pantry and above it were staff accommodation.  Some years back we discovered dry rot that had built up over 30 years and so we gutted the wing and it is now used for wedding receptions and events.

Hugh the 1st, died in 1841 to be succeeded by Hugh the 2nd Earl, whose long political career included becoming Viceroy of Ireland between 1839 and 1841, where the family owned land in Waterford.  He became a Knight of the Garter and a Knight of St Patrick, and both of these medals are still in the Library.  The order of the Garter is very special. To this day it is entirely within the gift of the monarch. He married Lady Susan Ryder, daughter of the Earl of Harrowby, they had three children.  

In 1841 Hugh instructed Edward Blore to enlarge Castle Hill by raising the mansard roof to accommodate another floor, a new hall and staircase.  This new addition rather ruined the classic Palladian proportions. He also designed very grandiose new stables on the site of the old farm, which we assume was only completed in part, on account of cost.  Hugh was a considerable philanthropist and was the founder of our most excellent local school, West Buckland, which educates 625 pupils, many from Devon as well as other parts of the world. 

Maybe the reason that Hugh the 2nd enlarged the house was seeing his son Hugh, who was to become the 3rd Earl, and his wife the Hon Georgiana Dawson-Damer, daughter of Lord Portarlington, increase their family to fourteen children in eighteen years. Georgiana, died aged 40. Her life is remembered in the stain glass windows in our Church. Her elder daughter Susan aged 18 was left to bring up the unruly brood of children. She was aided by John Newton, the Butler, who taught the young gentlemen how to behave and shoot. She even found time to decorate the ceiling of the Church which is still in fine condition.

Hugh the 4th Earl succeeded in 1905.  He was Lord Lieutenant of Devon, loved stag hunting, the Territorial Army, and was much involved in politics.  He was responsible for very covert operations taking place in Devon during the First World War.  He married the Honourable Emily Ormsby-Gore, daughter of Lord Harlech and there were three children. His eldest son, yet another Hugh, became the 5th and last Earl to live at Castle Hill in 1932.  There was a second son called Denzil, and a third called Geoffrey Faithful, who died aged 9.  

The 5th Earl and his wife were Lady Arran’s grandfather and grandmother.  She was born a Beaumont from Northumberland, although christened Margaret she was known as Daisy. Their lives were divided between Castle Hill and Exmoor. A vast, wild and beautiful area of moorland, where they farmed and stag-hunted. At that time the two Estates totalled 30,000 acres.  Winters were spent in Leicestershire and London, where the 5th Earl was very active in the House of Lords, as Chief Whip. He too became a Knight of the Garter. At the Queen’s Coronation he held the canopy over her, alongside his brother in law Viscount Allendale, a family double. A happy and proud wife and sister watched while sitting on the Coronation chairs.   

They had three children, Peter Viscount Ebrington bearing the courtesy title of the Fortescue’s, Lady Margaret and her sister Lady Elizabeth.

In 1934 a terrible tragedy overtook Castle Hill and the Fortescue family. During some plumbing and electrical works, a huge fire broke out and raged through the house leaving the centre block gutted.  Mrs Vincent, the housekeeper, and her assistant, Joyce Davie, died on the top floor. And this is where the children normally would have been sleeping. They were away in Leicestershire. People from the Estate, village and town, including the bank manager, came and pulled out of the house many of the contents while it was still burning.  There were huge acts of bravery that saved so many chattels. It was quite amazing what was salvaged from the fire.  The only blessing at the time was that the family portraits were away being restored and cleaned. 

The 5th Earl immediately commissioned Lord Gerald Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington, and Trenwith Wills to rebuild the house, back to its original Palladian proportions. Thankfully without the Edward Blore extra floor. This would have made modern life at Castle Hill impossible.  

Their vision was extraordinary. In the 30’s, they made many 20th century improvements putting in central heating, hot water tanks, which all worked well for 70 years later but certainly not economically. This has now been replaced with a modern Biomass boiler far more eco-friendly. They also put in new bathrooms and dressing rooms which were a novelty at that time.  The original cornices and door casings were copied by Jacksons of Hammersmith from photographs taken by the Country Life Magazine, mercifully just before the fire. 

When the rebuilding of the house was completed, carpets laid down, and exquisite curtains hung, it was time to re-hang the pictures. Forty-nine canvasses, included those by the great English painters, Gainsbrough, Reynolds and Constable, were amongst the collection waiting to be re-hung once more in the glory of the rebuilt house. The 49 paintings were returned from London on a lorry which arrived late at night after the Estate staff had left. But unbelievably during the night the lorry short circuited in the garage and went up in flames reducing this fabulous collection to ashes.

A tragedy overtook the family during the second World War. Their only son Peter was killed at the battle of El Alamein. He was serving in the Royal Scots Greys. Heartbroken but typically stoic they carried on their lives sharing the house with St Peter’s School from Sussex which had been evacuated to Castle Hill.  70 small boys bought joy to the house, to the village as choir boys, cricketers, beaters for shooting. Hugh the 5th Earl made a very difficult decision which has had such a bearing on Castle Hill custodians.  Without his son as his heir, the Fortescue Earldom would pass on his death to his brother Denzil. But he chose to leave the house and the Estates to his daughter Lady Margaret and another smaller Estate to Elizabeth. 

The Earl and Lady Margaret both died in 1958 within only three days of each other. Their daughter Lady Margaret was faced with vast death duties. Half the Estate was sold to pay for it. She then married Bernard van Cutsem in 1947. They lived between Newmarket, where he was a very successful race horse trainer, and Castle Hill until they divorced when Lady Margaret then came to live permanently at Castle Hill in 1964. Their two daughters Lady Eleanor and Lady Rosamund spent much of their childhood riding ponies and running pretty wild, often with their two half-brothers Hugh and Geoffrey.

In 1976 Lady Eleanor van Cutsem married Tommy, Viscount Sudley, as he then was, the heir to the earldom of Arran.  His family were originally Irish, owning two large houses in Ireland, Castle Gore and Ravensdale. However due to the houses being burnt down during the Irish Troubles, the Arran family settled back in England in the 1930’s. The dearly loved eccentric and clever Boofy Arran thoughtfully suggested that any children should include Fortescue with Gore, their family name, so Laura, born in 1975 and Lucy in 1976 became Lady Laura and Lady Lucy Fortescue Gore.  In 1989 Lady Margaret moved out of Castle Hill and built herself a lovely house in the kitchen garden, known as The Garden House, this is now home to Lord and Lady Arran.

During her 35 years custodianship at Castle Hill, Lady Margaret followed in her ancestors footsteps as a very keen builder.  She rebuilt the Triumphal Arch in 1960 as a memorial to her parents the 5th Earl and Countess. It had, blown down in 1951.  She built the Ebrington Tower as a memorial to her brother Peter, 50 years on from his death at the Battle of El Alamein, on the site of Hugh Clinton’s Sham Village.  She restored Satyr’s Temple and Ugley Bridge and rebuilt the Hermitage. She also built a lovely colonnade for the north side of the house, designed by Raymond Erith and Quinlan Terry. 

One of her greatest triumphs, over adversity, was the re-siting of a new fast road into North Devon.  The planners in their wisdom looked at the straightest route which was through Castle Hill Park and would have brought complete destruction to the 18th century landscape. So with much advice from conservationists and landscape historians the Inspector was persuaded at the Public Enquiry to overturn the planner’s decision. The road now runs through a northern part of the Estate over a viaduct in the Deer Park. It was where the steam railway used to run from 1864 to 1960, stopping at Filleigh, our village station complete with uniformed station master, whenever the family so required! 30 years on it is now being widened as the traffic is so considerable.

Lord and Lady Arran moved to Castle Hill in 1989 to take on the running of the Estate which marked the beginning of nearly 30 rewarding years. The Estate was solvent, dairy farming was profitable and the house was in good condition, except for the roof. Lord Arran had started his ministerial career in the House of Lords in 1989, becoming the Lord’s Minister for Defence in Mrs Thatcher’s Government. 

All was perfect until 30th January 1990, when a horrendous storm in excess of 100 miles-an-hour cut a swathe through the Estate, up-rooting anything and everything in its path.  Trees, woods, follies, balustrades and statues were flattened. Lead from the roof blew around the lawns like dangerous tissue paper. Repairing the roof was the greatest cost. English Heritage were offering grants for the restoration of parks of outstanding historic importance, damaged by the 1987 and 1990 storms.  Thankfully, Castle Hill, with its well-documented historical evidence, qualified for the grant. English Heritage required the Estate to match fund the grant, which we somehow managed to do and the huge clear up began. The Estates own workforce carried out the Herculean task of moving 150 year old trunks from very steep slopes. Hundreds of shallow-rooted beech trees were removed that originated from the planting by Hugh and Matthew. Many were, undoubtedly, well past their age limit. 

Over a year and a half the avenues, parkland copses and woods were replanted. The statues and balustrades were restored and now 30 years the trees are maturing well. A proper structure is returning to the park with good vistas restored.  Enthused, more confident and inspired, the huge under-taking of de-silting Matthew’s water courses started, a project untouched for over 100 years.  Thousands of tons of silt were dispersed and ploughed over many acres. The water now looks wonderful in winter with cascades and ponds and islands have been restored to the original designs. The spring fed water does not look so good in summer.  Without the use of modern machinery only men, oxen and buckets in the late 1700’s, there was never enough fall.  It is an ongoing problem resulting in de-silting some parts of the watercourses every year.

In 2016 Lady Laura and her husband James Duckworth-Chad moved to Castle Hill with their 4 children, becoming the 17th custodians of Castle Hill. It is the beginning of their journey in this beautiful corner of England and they are excited about the adventure that lies ahead.

GARDEN AND WOODLAND HISTORY

Castle Hill is really a garden for all seasons.  The winters are reasonably mild.  The soil is acidic and there is around 40-50 inches of rain per year. In early February swathes of snowdrops peep through the wintery grass.  At the same time, camellias are flowering.  This striking pink and white called ‘Cheerio’ flowers early. One of the plantings which gives huge pleasure is the long dark red Camellia hedge, Adolphe Audusson well over a hundred yards in length, in fact the longest camellia hedge in Devon. There are hosts of daffodils and narcissi growing in drifts of cream and yellow which stretch along both drives and Lord Arran has planted 60,000 daffodils in what is now known as Lord Arran’s Daffodil wood. The camellias planted by Lady Margaret over 30 years ago now tower into the trees.  The pale yellow of the Corylopsis Pauciflora, a delicate harbinger of spring, greets one along a path. 

The magnolias in the woodland garden started flowering very early this year in February, Campbelli in a normal year around mid March, depending on the severity of frosts. Carpets of primroses, violets and bluebells abound. The colour of the latter suspends above them like a gentle blue cloud. 

Rhododendrons, flourishing in the somewhat damp climate grow on the steep banks and have a long season, followed by Augustiniae, Brocade, the lovely Icarus together with Alison Johnson, Dairymaid, and King George, Glebe Yellow, Jalisco Elect and Decorum. The azaleas are a little later and are at their best in early to mid May, Silver Slipper, Azalea Pontica, Rosebud, Golden Chariot, Irene Koster and Corneille. They smell so good and cut well for the house. 

The second flush of magnolias arrive in May, all varying shades of yellow and cream, Yellow Bird, Fei Huang and Elizabeth. 

Other shrubs and ornamental trees growing in the gardens are Daphne Boulaha, whose strong scent fills the garden in January, Enkianthus, Viburnums,  Cornus’s , Nuttallii, Kousa and Framboisii.  The beautiful handkerchief tree, Davidia Involucrata, or Dove tree is another real favourite. Patience is needed for the first flowers to appear but the results are certainly worth it. Later in the summer there are Hoherias, Kalmia Latifolia, Abutilons, Styrax Japonica, the charming and little known Zenobia Pulverente, and then the late summer treat, the hedge of Eucryphia Rostrevor along the front drive, smelling of honey.  

Ugley Bridge and Satyr’s Temple are favourite picnic spots with close by Pan, sheltered by a sunlit beech canopy. The Sunset Temple and Sunrise Temple follow and Bacchus, restored following the devastations of the 1990 storm then a steep climb to the Castle. On the descent, the Traveller’s Cross, a pilgrim’s waymarker from the 14th Century, with writings by the Victorian poet William Stawell. These simple words are so appropriate in their woodland setting. The long views to the Triumphal Arch across the valley and then back to the House are magical; this landscape looks as beautiful in autumn as it does in June. 

Behind Castle Hill is the Spa House, a happily lived-in folly and onto Edward Blore’s stables, now offices and a few stables for the ponies. The 18th century kennels complete the landscape to the west on Oxford Down where Lady Arran rebuilt the kennels as a monument to Lady Margaret, with a plaque.  The 21st century garden, the Millennium Garden, is on the east side of the house.  

One of the many challenges faced by Lord and Lady Arran was the lack of colour and interest in the woodland gardens after June. After much deliberation they commissioned a great friend and brilliant Chelsea Flower Show Gold medallist, Xa Tollemache, to design a summer garden.

The impact this modern garden has made on the house and gardens as a whole has been thrilling, creating a garden full of summer colour that now spans spring and autumn. Perhaps most importantly the curving structure of a new path design has been reinstated on the east of the house. It had disappeared during Matthew’s time when he removed the great avenues of elms.  Colours that would complement and not clash with the yellow of the house were important to find so shades of blue and creams have been widely used. Height was essential as the ground runs away and now the garden has matured and filled out over 19 years. Lord and Lady Arran started with a green field site with the paths, then planted large standard Quercus Ilex to go in with the existing canopy of Ilex trees then surrounded them with Viburnum Tinus hedging. Curving borders of Lavender Grosso and a long river of lavender running through the axis were planted. It was desired to carry the architecture of the house through to the garden so domes were created on the corners of the hedges as punctuation points.  Very sadly Vibernum Tinus succumbed to Phytophera and Xa Tollemache suggested planting box hedging.  However this then succumbed to Box blight and has been replaced with Euonymous ‘Green Spider’ which looks like Box and hopefully will flourish.  The Millennium seat sits against the house at the top of the Lavender river with lovely views across the park. In year two Lord and Lady Arran put in more Quercus Ilex as a cross path and commissioned a Topiary Water Sculpture. It was designed and made by Giles Rayner, a friend from South Devon.  The intention was to carry the architecture of the house with its domes through to the water sculpture and the standard Quercus. In the last 5 years Weeping Pears have been added to give a different texture and a lighter feel to the borders.

In spring the borders are planted with tulips, aquilegia, alliums and cream foxgloves, following on with campanulas and flocks, verbena bonariensis seeds itself through the borders, and scabiosas give height and movement.  For extra height Xa suggested metal towers for Clematis Perle d’azur to scramble up and be surrounded by thick planting of penstomen. Echinops, perovskia, artemesia and Delphiniums give strength as do salvias. 

Everest lilies and verbenas sit well against the yellow of the house and in August agapanthus, Blue Moon shoot up and mix with standard rose Snow Carpet, giving more height. These borders give huge delight all the year round.