Castle Drogo, Devon
This historic property is in desperate need of restoration but that has not stopped the National Trust creating an interesting visitor experience while the work is carried out, writes Peter Mason
If they haven’t already been alerted by scaffolding on the outside of the building, visitors to Castle Drogo this year and next will immediately know something unusual is going on. Outsize reproductions of the original plans for the building now greet them in the entrance hall.
The property, often described as the last castle to be built in Britain, stands on a hillside overlooking the Teign Gorge on the edge of Dartmoor. It was created for Julius Drewe, who had made his fortune after forming the Home and Colonial Stores in 1883, and was designed by Edwin Lutyens.
Major works
Building began in 1911 but it was not finished until 1929. Castle Drogo is exposed to the weather and has suffered from water penetration and major structural problems ever since completion.
The National Trust, owner of the building since the 1970s, concluded that without extensive conservation work on the building it would have eventually become inaccessible. This work is now underway, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and other grants from other funders.
Because of the scale of the project the trust would probably in the past have closed the building for the five years that the work is likely to take.
However, the decision was taken to find ways of keeping the building open throughout the project. The work entails the removal of every window, repointing the external walls and installing a new waterproof system for the castle’s flat roof.
With work of this nature going on it would be impossible to leave the room contents in place so a different answer had to be found. The solution is to put in a series of installations in bare rooms and to redisplay the contents in rooms that are unaffected by the works in each phase.
Work in progress
The first of these installations is in the library. Sitting on top of the boxed-in billiard table – too large to be moved out of the room – is a mock-up of the castle made from model tea chests and soap boxes, illustrating the source of the family’s wealth.
Two large and imposing portraits of Julius and Frances Drewe, normally hung in the stairwell, have been placed on the floor. Fish-eye lenses set in mock magnifying glasses have been set into each of the boxed-in windows, enabling visitors to see work in progress on repairing and replacing the windows.
In front of the boarded-in window in the drawing room, a lifesize stage-set reminiscent of Pollock’s Toy Theatres has been created.
Recalling the family’s visits to Castle Drogo while it was being built before the first world war started, enlargements of family postcards have been used to form lifesize figures and scenery. Edwardian clothes are on hand to enable children to put themselves into the scene.
In the dining room a cut-away of the walls and a re-creation of the building stages of a doorway have been made with realistic reproductions of the granite blocks used in the building of the castle. Photographs of work in progress hang on the walls and a soundscape of building work plays in the background.
Each of the rooms has been given a theme and, leaving the dining room, visitors enter the “Corridor of No Return”. This time the soundscape is of marching soldiers and gunfire.
At the outbreak of the first world war, the skilled workforce at the castle enlisted in droves and this is brought to life by two grey lifesize figures of workmen disappearing into a granite wall.
Alongside is a letter to a workman enclosing the wages he was owed and telling him: “I hope you will have a good time, do your duty to the King and Country, and come back at the end of the war…” The letter is dated 19 September 1914, just after war was declared.
Water damage
After passing through the kitchen and scullery where the damage being caused by water penetration is all too obvious, visitors are guided back upstairs to the family rooms. Here, many of the contents of the house removed from other rooms have been collected together in themes.
In Mr Drewe’s room, for example, there is a display of the castle’s telephones and electrical items including an electric cup-warmer. In the next room outdoor equipment such as fishing rods are displayed alongside screens decorated with rural scenes.
In the third of the rooms, “The Room of Time Passing”, a dozen clocks have been brought together. They tick and strike at different times, and visitors can reflect on time passing while also examining the clocks more closely.
The imaginative approach to redisplaying the castle’s contents is illustrated by the use of the glass top of a long-case clock, which is too tall for the room, as a display cabinet for dolls.
Ingenious interpretation
The final stage of the tour takes visitors to two rooms in the nursery suite, open for the first time. Here, other items are stored on open-plan shelving, again enabling people to appreciate the collection in a different way. The nursery also offers visitors an unrivalled view of the Teign Gorge and the southern slopes of Dartmoor National Park.
The National Trust is to be congratulated on having found a novel way to interpret one of its most important properties. The skeleton of the building is exposed to visitors and they are given important insights into the process of conserving the building.
The family, the architect and labourers all come to life in a new and interesting way. The interpretation throughout is pertinent, clever, often amusing and sometimes very moving.
Peter Mason is a writer on culture
The property, often described as the last castle to be built in Britain, stands on a hillside overlooking the Teign Gorge on the edge of Dartmoor. It was created for Julius Drewe, who had made his fortune after forming the Home and Colonial Stores in 1883, and was designed by Edwin Lutyens.
Major works
Building began in 1911 but it was not finished until 1929. Castle Drogo is exposed to the weather and has suffered from water penetration and major structural problems ever since completion.
The National Trust, owner of the building since the 1970s, concluded that without extensive conservation work on the building it would have eventually become inaccessible. This work is now underway, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and other grants from other funders.
Because of the scale of the project the trust would probably in the past have closed the building for the five years that the work is likely to take.
However, the decision was taken to find ways of keeping the building open throughout the project. The work entails the removal of every window, repointing the external walls and installing a new waterproof system for the castle’s flat roof.
With work of this nature going on it would be impossible to leave the room contents in place so a different answer had to be found. The solution is to put in a series of installations in bare rooms and to redisplay the contents in rooms that are unaffected by the works in each phase.
Work in progress
The first of these installations is in the library. Sitting on top of the boxed-in billiard table – too large to be moved out of the room – is a mock-up of the castle made from model tea chests and soap boxes, illustrating the source of the family’s wealth.
Two large and imposing portraits of Julius and Frances Drewe, normally hung in the stairwell, have been placed on the floor. Fish-eye lenses set in mock magnifying glasses have been set into each of the boxed-in windows, enabling visitors to see work in progress on repairing and replacing the windows.
In front of the boarded-in window in the drawing room, a lifesize stage-set reminiscent of Pollock’s Toy Theatres has been created.
Recalling the family’s visits to Castle Drogo while it was being built before the first world war started, enlargements of family postcards have been used to form lifesize figures and scenery. Edwardian clothes are on hand to enable children to put themselves into the scene.
In the dining room a cut-away of the walls and a re-creation of the building stages of a doorway have been made with realistic reproductions of the granite blocks used in the building of the castle. Photographs of work in progress hang on the walls and a soundscape of building work plays in the background.
Each of the rooms has been given a theme and, leaving the dining room, visitors enter the “Corridor of No Return”. This time the soundscape is of marching soldiers and gunfire.
At the outbreak of the first world war, the skilled workforce at the castle enlisted in droves and this is brought to life by two grey lifesize figures of workmen disappearing into a granite wall.
Alongside is a letter to a workman enclosing the wages he was owed and telling him: “I hope you will have a good time, do your duty to the King and Country, and come back at the end of the war…” The letter is dated 19 September 1914, just after war was declared.
Water damage
After passing through the kitchen and scullery where the damage being caused by water penetration is all too obvious, visitors are guided back upstairs to the family rooms. Here, many of the contents of the house removed from other rooms have been collected together in themes.
In Mr Drewe’s room, for example, there is a display of the castle’s telephones and electrical items including an electric cup-warmer. In the next room outdoor equipment such as fishing rods are displayed alongside screens decorated with rural scenes.
In the third of the rooms, “The Room of Time Passing”, a dozen clocks have been brought together. They tick and strike at different times, and visitors can reflect on time passing while also examining the clocks more closely.
The imaginative approach to redisplaying the castle’s contents is illustrated by the use of the glass top of a long-case clock, which is too tall for the room, as a display cabinet for dolls.
Ingenious interpretation
The final stage of the tour takes visitors to two rooms in the nursery suite, open for the first time. Here, other items are stored on open-plan shelving, again enabling people to appreciate the collection in a different way. The nursery also offers visitors an unrivalled view of the Teign Gorge and the southern slopes of Dartmoor National Park.
The National Trust is to be congratulated on having found a novel way to interpret one of its most important properties. The skeleton of the building is exposed to visitors and they are given important insights into the process of conserving the building.
The family, the architect and labourers all come to life in a new and interesting way. The interpretation throughout is pertinent, clever, often amusing and sometimes very moving.
Peter Mason is a writer on culture
Project data
- Cost £11m
- Main funders Heritage Lottery Fund £2.5m; European Union; National Trust
- Interpretative design, construction, installation, property style guide Cod Steaks