Tattershall Castle and the surrounding land and cottages was put on the market in 1911. The National Trust was in its infancy and their were no laws to protect ancient monuments.

September 19, 1911: A contract was signed, at 1pm, for the purchase of the castle. The buyer was an unknown American millionaire who had named his own price, a sum far in excess of anything previously offered.

The American planned to demolish the castle, ship it to the US, and rebuild it.

September 20: The Council of the National Trust met in Westminster to discuss a proposal to purchase Tattershall Castle.

Despite the offer of an interest-free loan by Sir Francis Trippel, the members voted against the acquisition.

Mr Leonard Stokes, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, in a letter on the subject, said: “The threatened disaster at Tattershall Castle is a rude reminder of the fact that we have really no machinery in existence for the protection of those national treasures which happen to be in private ownership.”

September 22: News broke that Tattershall Castle had been sold to an American millionaire who planned to remove it brick by brick to the US.

There was outrage from all parts of the country. The American remained anonymous and all efforts to discover his identity failed.

Dean Fry, of Lincoln, appealed to the London Times to help prevent the sale.

Castle chimneys removed

IN order to ascertain some idea of the existing state of things a representative of the Gazette visited the Castle on Monday, and paying the customary fee of sixpence, obtained admission.He at once proceeded up the fine staircase in the south-east turret, and having gained the summit, spent some time watching the workmen busily engaged hammering away at the brickwork around the fireplaces.

There are four fireplaces, and the one on the third floor was taken down this Saturday.In the removal it has come away in fragments, so that the task of piecing it together will be difficult, and it will never again have that charm which it has had hitherto

Huge scaffolding has been erected up the wall in the interior of the Castle, and on this nearly a dozen workmen were engaged, on Monday, hammering away at the fireplace on the second floor. One watched with feelings of regret the beautiful brickwork being smashed about.Our representative stood for a time in the passage immediately behind the fireplace in question, and as the men hammered away from the other side, large quantities of brickwork came tumbling down the chimney, and in a short time there was quite a cart load of broken bricks in the passage.

Naturally, the residents of Tattershall are very indignant at this wanton destruction of the ancient Castle, for it is a great drawing power to visitors, and the more visitors who come the better it is for trade in Tattershall.Gazette, September 16, 1912

Article courtesy of Lincolnshire Gazette

Echo, April 21, 1925

Lord Curzon of Kedleston purchases Tattershall Castle

November 11: Tattershall Castle had been saved for the nation the Gazette reported. Lord Curzon of Kedleston was said to have bought the castle and intended to restore it.The castle fireplaces, which had already been removed, were in storage in London. It was hoped , though thought unlikely, that they could be returned.November 24: The sale of the Tattershall Estate took place in Lincoln, at the Saracen’s Head Hotel.Lord Curzon, who had already bought the castle, purchased a piece of adjoining land with which he proposed to restore the moat. He also bought two cottages nearby.On making himself known, Lord Curzon, was cheered by those present in the room.

Article courtesy of Lincolnshire Gazette

Tattershall fireplaces back at the castle


Tattershall Castle fireplaces returned

THE Union Jack floated proudly over Tattershall Castle on Wednesday, and the whole village was decorated in honour of such a day as the residents a short time ago could hardly have hoped to see.

Thanks to the public spirit and generosity of Lord Curzon of Kedleston, ex-Viceroy of India, aided by handsome contributions from Mr Alfred Shuttleworth and Capt Weigall, MP, the matchless fireplaces , the great feature of Tattershall’s stately Flemish brickwork Castle , had come back.

The fireplaces had been brought from London in a motor wagon, which left the Metropolis on Sunday afternoon, and arrived at Tattershall on Tuesday evening. Lord Curzon himself motored from Boston to Tattershall on Wednesday.

A demonstration had been organised in the village square followed by a procession round the village, then to Coningsby Bridge and back and finally to the Castle itself. The fireplaces themselves were, of course, the outstanding item in the line.

The Chairman of the Parish Council (Mr Tom Comins), mounted the steps of the stone cross in the centre of the village, Lord Curzon and the Vicar following into the railed circle.

Speaking from the steps, the Chairman voiced the welcome of the villagers to his Lordship and their gratitude for all he had done.

They were delighted to have him with them, and also pleased that the old Castle was still with them.

It looked at one time as though the castle was to be demolished, if not removed. He read one morning in the paper not only that the fireplaces had been removed but also that the castle walls had been taken away, and he went across to make sure they were still there. (Laughter).

Lord Curzon, who met with a great reception, said he was profoundly touched by the kind words. When he read that the fireplaces were in actual danger of being taken away from Tattershall and out of the country, he, being a man of antiquarian tastes and believing in the continuity of English history, determined, if no one else intervened that he would do so.

So in that sense of the word he was the unexpected.

He had now got back the famous mantlepieces and they would be restored to their original position and be a monument cherished throughout the country.

He spoke of the necessity of the people of Tattershall to keep to their obligations by helping to see that the fabric, building and grounds were properly revered.

Gazette, June 8, 1912

The castle re-opened

THE county of Lincolnshire lays claim to many beauty spots, magnificent ancient buildings, and historic relics, and in Tattershall Castle she possesses one of the finest examples of brickwork building in the country.

Built in 1440 to the order of Ralph Lord Cromwell the Castle has seen many stirring scenes of England’s history and stands today as a priceless jewel and a magnificent monument of the past.

In 1910 the Tattershall estate was sold, and the Castle became a sort of shuttlecock bounced to and fro by battledoors wielded by men who were out for profit. This aroused but little public interest.

Then came the news that the famous stone carved fireplaces had been torn from their places, packed up in crates, and were about to be shipped off to America.

Then the public became aroused.

We sent a representative over to Tattershall, who watched the workmen hacking the fireplaces out with crow-bars as though the building was of no interest, and we published a long description of the scene, which had the effect of getting newspapers all over England interested in the Castle and urging the Nation to keep for itself this marvellous building.

The fireplaces, however, departed to an unknown destination, but we were fortunate enough to be on the spot at the time of the removal and were able to give the first clue to their whereabouts by publishing the name of the remover.

It was then that the Right Hon Lord Curzon of Kedleston, with his usual magnificent English spirit stepped in and within 24 hours he bought the Castle and then set to work to get back the fireplaces, which he eventually did.

The arrival back of the fireplaces was the scene of remarkable rejoicing at Tattershall.

Lord Curzon has, by the help of an exceedingly clever architect in Mr Weir, entirely renovated the Castle, putting down two moats, putting floors in the Castle, refitting the fireplaces, and restoring the whole place as far as possible as it was in the olden times.

This work has taken nearly three years to complete, and the formal re-opening took place on Saturday in the presence of a distinguished company.

The Tattershall Parish Council handed to Lord Curzon a resolution of thanks.

The company assembled at the Keep, where the formal opening ceremony took place.

Lord Curzon, who met with a hearty reception said in 1910 Lord Fortescue, the owner, sold his estates at Tattershall, which came into the hands of Mr Hooley, whose financial position was, perhaps, not such as to enable him to do justice to the property.

The estate then came onto the market, and the Castle and keep passed into the hands of a series of persons on the look-out for profit.

The National Trust hoped to get it at one time, but could not raise the money, and really public attention was not excited until the famous chimney-pieces were taken out to be sold to a dealer for the purpose of exporting to America.

The story went about that the Castle was going to be pulled down. Being interested in old buildings, and feeling it a scandal, he intervened. (Applause).

A man with whom he was having dealings in London came to him and said “You can have Tattershall at a certain price if you buy before 5pm tomorrow.”

Well, he had never seen the place, but he came over the following morning and inspected the Castle, and by 5pm he had bought it by telegram. (Loud applause.)

The next thing was to get the mantle-piece back.

It took six months negotiations before he eventually bought them, being helped by many generous friends.

Lord Curzon then dealt with the dilapidations which had taken place, and said in 1643 during the Civil War, the Castle was very much knocked about.

Lord Lincoln continued to live at the Castle until 1693, which was the last evidence of occupation, and after that the place was dismantled.

They were all familiar with the picture by Buck, of the Castle, dated 1726, which showed that with the exception of the Keep, the rest of the place was in ruin.

So it was for a century, after which further dilapidations took place, for permission was given to a local mason that he could make use of the old place on condition he filled the inner moat.

While they had been excavating they found the ruins of the old limekilns in which this mason burned the stones.

He took all the soil and piled it in the moat to fill it up and the same was done with the outer moat. That was about 1790.

In 1803 the Castle was used as look-out in the Napoleonic war, an old soldier being there with a tar barrel on one of the top turrets, which he had to light in case of invasion.

Lord Curzon smilingly added: “I am prepared to let it for similar use now if need be.” (The Great War had just begun)

They now saw two moats, an inner and outer. When he bought the place the outer moat had entirely disappeared, with the exception of a trench.

There was great dispute as to whether the outer moat ever had gone completely round the Castle, but in excavating they found that it did go all round, and connected with the river Bain.

Part of the outer moat had been filled up at an early date, and the rest left open.

The inner moat had been entirely filled up, and when he first came the outer wall of the moat protruded from the ground. There were no bridges.

The ground they saw in front of the Castle as a level lawn was originally rough grazing land, and the lower room of the Castle used for cattle.

The Castle was a hollow shell, one going in and being able to look up at the sky, as all the floors had fallen in.

The battlements and turrets were decayed, and persons could only get up one turret.

In 1904 lightning made a wreck of one side of the Castle. He engaged Mr William Weir, architect, to put the place in order, and the result they now saw was due to Mr Weir’s great knowledge, untiring energy, and scrupulous regard for all that was venerable and beautiful.

The first thing to do was to trench the whole ground between the Keep and the Castle, and in doing so they discovered relics of the past.

The moats were dug out, and he described their particular method of construction, and said with the soil taken out they were able to raise the level of the interior of the Castle to its original level.

Bridges were made to cross the moats, and they were of modern design, for this reason that two of the three old bridges which crossed the moats in olden times were drawbridges, and they could not reproduce them now.

The Keep in which they now stood was occupied by a caretaker, having a bottom and an upper floor, the outside being covered with ivy, and looked like an ordinary cottage.

The cottage, or keep, was built the same date as the Castle, and was used as a guard house, there being a wall running out the back on which the sentries kept watch.

The stone shield over the door he recovered from a farmhouse near by, it having been built into a cowshed.

He had made the Keep into a kind of waiting-room on the ground floor, and on the upper floor there was a museum of things from the Norman Conquest down to the present day, which had been recovered in digging out the moat.

Round the walls was a complete collection of prints, engravings, and drawings of the Castle which had been made in the last 200 years.

Sir Henry Howarth, member of the commission for the preservation of ancient monuments, said he would like to express the acknowledgments, not only of Lincolnshire, but of the whole Empire, for the princely act of generosity which had been done by his old friend, Lord Curzon.

Tattershall Castle was one of a series of brick buildings which were excessively interesting because they marked an entire change in the method of building great buildings.

Lord Curzon then acted as guide to his guests. Taking them in the basement he showed how the walls were 15ft thick, and said the place was used as a store house in which to keep the grain and supplies.

In the centre of the floor they had found the well from which the Castle obtained its water supply when undergoing a siege.

On the ground floor, which was formerly used as a barn for cattle, a new floor had been put down as in all the rooms, of plaster, with brick and charcoal to give colour.

The fireplace was a little worn owing to cattle rubbing against it, yet the design was good. It was the largest and most famous of the four fireplaces, and had suffered the most damage.

The shields of the Cromwell family and the symbol of the purse and their various offices were shown. Lord Curzon said difficulty had been experienced in rubbing off cement wash which had been put on by the dealer.

As to the windows they had recovered the tracery and the iron bars outside were the old ones.

On the second floor, which was the ordinary chamber of the Lord and Lady of the House, he explained that the stone projectiles in the wall on the west side were probably the supports for the roof of a dais.

The wooden blocks in the wall round the room and other rooms, were used for hanging up the tapestries. No paint, plaster or colour wash was ever on the walls, he said they were covered with tapestries.

Having explained the sanitary devices of the Castle and the use of the passages, the party moved to the next floor, which was used as the state bedroom, and Lord Curzon said as they went higher they found the rooms were higher and larger.

The mantlepiece here was most perfect. The passage to the tower from the room was in 1700 used as a pigeon cote, and he had left the cotes, made of clay in, as they were particularly interesting.

The room was probably used by the Lady of the Castle as her room.

On the roof the gallery had been built up, the turrets completed, and chimney stack made up.

Echo, August 10, 1914.

Tattershall Castle Bequeathed to the nation 1925

THE late Marquis Curzon of Kedleston has bequeathed Tattershall Castle to the nation.

The news will cause great satisfaction in Lincolnshire for by thus disposing of the Castle the late Marquis has ensured to perpetuity the preservation of the magnificent structure, one of the finest pieces of medieval brickwork extant, which he was instrumental in rescuing from the hands of despoilers.

On the sale of the Fortescue estates in 1911, the beautifully carved stone fireplaces in the Castle from which those in the Houses of Parliament were copied, were sold to America. They had actually been removed to London when Lord Curzon, who soon afterwards bought the Castle to save it from being knocked to pieces, recovered them.

In the following year they were brought back in triumph on decorated lorries. Arches were erected in the village and Lord Curzon’s carriage was drawn through the streets by the inhabitants.


Tattershall Castle	Moat around Tattershall Castle