From: A Journey into North Wales in the Year 1774
Boswell and Johnston
August 4th
Ruthin Castle is still a very
noble ruin; all the walls still remain, so that a compleat platform, and
elevations, not very imperfect, may be taken. It encloses a square of about
thirty yards. The middle space was always open.
The wall is, I believe, about
thirty feet high, very thick, flanked with six round towers, each about
eighteen feet, or less, in diameter. Only one tower had a chimney, so that
there was commodity of living. It was only a place of strength. The garrison
had, perhaps, tents in the area.
From: The History of Ruthin
Castle by Reginald de Hereford:
' The last male heir of Chirk,
Richard Myddelton of Llysfasi, died intestate in 1796 leaving three daughters:
Charlotte, Maria and Harriet. The Court of Chancery awarded the Chirk Castle
estate to Charlotte; the Ruthin Castle estate went to Maria; and Harriet
received the Dyffryn Ceiriog estate.
'Maria decided to come and live
at Ruthin in 1826. In 1798 she married Frederick West, 3rd son of the 8th Baron
West and 2nd Earl de la Warr (his first marriage had been with Charlotte
Mitchell of Culham Court, Berkshire. Died 1795). Maria died in 1843. There was
an only son surviving - Frederick Richard (b. 1799 and d. 1862). He married
twice:
1. Lady Georgina Stanhope,
daughter of William Philip, 5th Earl of Chesterfield, in 1820. She died without
issue in 1824.
2. Theresa, only daughter of
Capt. John Whitby, R.N., on 11th September, 1837. She died 18th September,
1886.
Ruthin Castle was no more a
stronghold after the wreck of the Civil War (1642 - 49). Its venerable stones
were carted off and neglect remained until a Myddelton daughter took interest
in her inheritance. The home which she built in 1826 was a castellated,
two-storeyed, double- block of grey limestone on the south-east corner of the
ancient site; the two portions were linked together with a slender covered
bridge. . The interior was in keeping with the classicism of the 18th century.
At the rear, amongst the domestic quarters, arose a four-dialled clock-tower.'
Ruthin Castle, 1830.
Ruthin Castle was ordered to be demolished after its surrender to General Mytton in 1646, and it was not until the time of Maria Myddlelton that the new castle was built. She married Frederick West in 1798, and decided in 1826 to make Ruthin her residence. The 1826 building was castellated, two-storeyed double-block of grey limestone on the south-east corner of the site of the original castle. In the period 1849 - 52 the Wests demolished part of their house and erected the present red sandstone building - a rectangular block of three storeys with an octagonal tower on the south-west corner overlooking a broad terrace. The style is fifteenth-century perpendicular, and the architect was Henry Clutton. prominent in the gothic revival of the nineteenth century.
THE CORNWALLIS-WEST ERA
'The marriage of Frederick
Richard West with Theresa Whitby brought in a name which they treated with the
utmost respect. Her father, Capt. John Whitby, R.N., had died a few months
after the child was born. His close friend for many years, Admiral Cornwallis,
made himself the guardian of the widow and her young daughter. At his death he
bequeathed all his possessions to Theresa Whitby. The bequest included Newlands
Manor, the home of his retirement, on the Hampshire coast within site of the
sea, (the Solent).
'In 1849 - 52 the Myddelton-Wests
demolished part of their house, and, on the same site, put up the present
handsome pile of local red sandstone. It is a large, well-proportioned,
rectangular block of three storeys with an octagonal tower on the South-west
corner overlooking a broad terrace. The style is 15th century Perpendicular and
was conceived with restraint in the fullness of the 19th century gothic revival
by Henry Clutton. The mellow fabric is lighted with a series of fine bay,
mullion, and oriel windows. Guests pass inside through an entrance flanked with
carved Welsh dragons into an oak-paneled hall.
'It was during the period 1849 -
52 that Henry Clutton enclosed the immediate precincts with curtain walls
complete with gate and lodge, of grey limestone with comices and castellations
of red sandstone, looking towards the town. The gate is formed of a great arch
in similar 15th century style above which is a small terrace. Prior to all this
the Corwen Road had pursued its way under the castle walls from the decade
which followed the Civil War. It turned right, over a bridge in the meadow, and
across the deer-park to descend to a lower level at the farther end of Pwll
Glas. Privacy having been gained, the Wests provided fresh land for a
diversion which made a new and better Corwen Road.
‘Within the enclosed space
gardens were laid out; trees were planted; and a most graceful vista created
along the new carriage-way. In early spring the avenue appears to be wreathed
in a mist of emerald green; in autumn the leaves of the majestic trees change
to gold and russet and creating a scene of incomparable richness. It was at
this time that Mrs. Theresa Whitby-West planted the fine elms along the new
Corwen Road. At the same time a constant supply of pure water was laid from the
spring at Y Galchog.'
Patsy
Following extract from 'Handbook
to Ruthin and Vicinity' by Lewis Jones - 1884
' The castle which remained in
utter ruin for 180 years, was partly rebuilt in in 1826; and finally brought to
its present state in the year 1852 by the late F.R.West, Esq., M.P. A great
number of very interesting "relics of the past" and other
"curiosities" are to be seen in the Armoury, and the grounds of this
magnificent Castle are universally acknowledged to be "extremely beautiful."
From whatever point it is viewed it commands a most picturesque appearance, -
and from its tower is to be seen, on a clear day, the Vale of Clwyd at one
glance, down to the sea, a distance of 20 miles - a landscape of such majesty
and beauty is rarely to be seen and suggests:
"How sublime are her
mountains, with verdure clad,
How lovely her valleys and dale;
Abounding in woodlands, in
dingle, and dell,
Oh! what beauties combined in
this vale !"
It is now the residence of its
owner, Major W.C.West, lord Lieutenant of the county.
From The History of Ruthin Castle
by Reginald de Hereford:
'Thrice-married George Cornwallis
West shot himself in 1951, having been described as a rogue, an amourous fool,
a victim of randy royalty and the Lilly Langtry set.
'Georges mother, Patsy, had the
reputation of being the wickedest woman in Wales. His true father was widely
believed to be Edward, Prince of Wales, who was also one of 200 identifiable lovers
of George's first wife, Jennie - mother of Sir Winston Churchill, only a
fortnight younger than his Ruthin step-father.
"At least no one could say
we were dull or ordinary, " wrote George's sister Daisy. "Indeed the
chief accusation against us was that we were too lively. King Edward V11, who
loved us all, christened us the Wild West Show."
'Daisy left Ruthin for Silesia,
where she became the Princess of Pless. her sister Shelagh settled down in
Chester, as Duchess of Westminster, the first of the Duke's four wives.
'Having provided three
generations of eminently respectable Members of Parliament for Denbigh, the
Wests were shaked out of their Ruthin Ruritania by the arrival, in 1872, of the
16-year-old bride
Patsy, daughter of a Dublin
clergyman.
Patsy
'All three of her children were
born before she was 21, and Colonel William Cornwallis West, 20 years her
senior, soon lost control over his wife's beauty.'
"Patsy had been a '
professional beauty ' whose picture gazed out of shop windows along with Lilly
Langtry, Ellen Terry and Jennie Jerome with other 'PBs;' she had an affair with the Prince
of Wales", writes Margot Peters in the latest book to invade the bedrooms
of the period.
"It was widely assumed that
George was his child, and that by standing god-father, Albert Edward had
acknowledged a closer relationship," adds Dr. Peters.
'Prince Edward turned up at
Ruthin Castle in May 1899. So did Patsy's rival beauty, the former Jennie
Jerome, widow of Lord Randolph Churchill who had died of syphilis.
'Three months later George and
Jennie announced their engagement, and Jennie's son, Winston, denied it. George
was 25 and Jennie, by then known as lady Randy, was 20 years older.
'They were married in 1900 at S.
Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, the bride given away by the Duke of Marlborough.
Winston was missing, as were George's parents - they had left Ruthin the day
before, for a holiday in Ireland.
Eventually, in the early 20th
century the Castle became a Private Hospital or Clinic. The following
illustration is an advertisement for potential patients in 1941.
Three Kids Gripped By Evil By Polly Mullaney
Amazon Kindle, Amazon paperback
Amazon Kindle, Amazon paperback
No comments:
Post a Comment