In the Pevsner volume on Sussex, the otherwise sane topographer Ian Nairn, harrumphed of Arundel ‘that anybody, duke or banker, could as late as 1890 have embarked on the pretty complete building of an imitation castle, remains a puzzle …’ In this amusing and richly illustrated book, Amicia de Moubray gives the answer, and demonstrates how castle-building continued as a serious architectural thread not just in the 19th but throughout the 20th and into the 21st century. The British love of castles is deeply rooted in their psyche as an island race. Children learn to love them from fairy stories and Harry Potter.
Castles are an emblem of Britain itself, an island surrounded by a moat. A castle is a place of refuge and safety where we can do what we wish. It has always been a grand symbol of status and success. It is also a two-fingered gesture to modern, bureaucratic, utilitarian society. Historically it was the ‘residence of a lord made imposing through the architectural trappings of fortification’. A castle’s appeal is romantic and enduring. The resuscitation of a ruin or a new castle is the ultimate fantasy for a romantic, as gloriously illustrated herein.
The early 20th century ushered in an amazing revival of castles; crumbling ruins were transformed into something sparkling and new. Lord Curzon was a key figure. As Viceroy of India from 1898 to 1905, he developed the legal preservation of historic buildings which the British instituted after the Mutiny by scheduling the ruins of Lucknow as a monument. Modern British conservation of ancient buildings is one of many happy offshoots of the Indian empire.
In India, Curzon protected all the great Moghul sites and personally carried out a perfect restoration of the Taj Mahal.
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