Lulworth Castle

I have always wanted to visit Lulworth Castle, Susan took Granny June there many years ago before they finished restoring the castle. The exterior of the Castle changed little over the years but the interior evolved in line with changing fashions until it was gutted by a fire in 1929. Restoration work began on the ruin by the Department of the Environment and was followed through to completion in 2008 by English Heritage. As can be seen from the photograph, the Castle is magnificent, huge and imposing on the surrounding landscape. The estate cover 20 sq miles and has re-established the de Newburgh deer. Originally built as a hunting lodge to host hunting parties for the King.
What can I say about this Castle, not much. That is the rub, you pay to walk around a shell, their idea of restoration was to clean it up, make it safe to walk in and put a roof on. You look up from the ground floor to the 4th floor ceiling, nothing in between just a huge space of air. I would have been very disappointed had it not been for the cellar, kitchen and servants rooms below the ground floor. I realise that this was not burnt in the fire so did not need a huge amount of restoration. The present owner, The Weld family, are sitting on a gold mine, it must make quite a lot of money in the summer with very little up keep. My view, poor show.
In saying all this it will be a good place to take Samuel for a walk when the weather improves and also when we have visitors from far flung countries and need a place to go for a gentle walk and maybe a pub lunch.