A Family Day Out At Castle Howard

A Family Day Out At Castle Howard

Achingly beautiful views of the Yorkshire Dales, a stately home built on medieval castle grounds, Henderskelfe, over 300 years ago (and Bridgerton location); swans fanning their wings on a sparkling spring lake, a woodland adventure playground with fire pit for toasting marshamallows no less and bright blue skies as far as the eye can see, sure makes for the best Sunday day out with the family.

Just look at that happy face!

Nine generations of the Howard family has lived in Castle Howard since it was built and it was also home to one of my most memorable book tour dates back in 2019.

The Howard family is descended from Lord William Howard, the youngest son of Thomas Howard, the 3rd Earl of Carlisle (1679-1738) who is famed as Castle Howard’s creator.

The Earl asked the dramatist John Vanbrugh to build Castle Howard and it took more than 100 years to complete, spanning the lifetimes of three Earls and many architects and craftsmen. When my husband heard about this, from Steve, the informative skipper driving our boat on the man-made spring lake there, he told me with a twinkle in his eye, to stop complaining about how long our new home’s renovations are taking! Ha!

Strolling through the blooming woodland in awe of the magnificent temples, fountains and statues, makes for an enchanting and grounding experience. You really need a whole day, or several to take it all in. It’s a place we will return to time and time again.

The towering Atlas Fountain honouring famous Greek god holding heaven and earth on his shoulders, utterly stole my heart. Built in 1850 by landscape architect William Nesfield, it is carved of Portland stone, and its copper globe is ringed with gilded signs of the zodiac. It is powered by gravity from the hilltop reservoir in Ray Wood and doubles up as the perfect backdrop for Insta content!

…The children whiled away hours in the woodland adventure playground aptly named Skelf Island and marvelled at the ‘tight rope walk’ they strolled across the water, as my husband, Peter and I, stocked up on hot coffee in the lakeside cafe, and later, grabbed packed lunches, ice lollies and gingerbread biscuits for our trio of kids.

We caught the regular train below, from the entrance of Castle Howard to the bottom where the playground is adjacent to the lake but it’s easy to walk around so we hiked on the way back.

The boat trip we took was breathtaking under the late, balmy afternoon sun.

Florence was literally dazzled by the water and announced as soon as we climbed onto the boat that, ‘It’s so sparkly’.

Witnessing herrings, swans nesting and gliding across the water respectively; swallows overhead, and squirells scuttling in the woodland, made us feel like we were in a live action Disney movie.

Bliss.

What a memorable, restorative day in nature, surrounded by beauty at every turn. We even hugged a few trees on our travels.

We simply cannot wait to return to Castle Howard, and when the house reopens so we can witness its recent renovations (it opens after April 18th). Wow, it was well worth a day out and we highly recommend a visit.

We were invited to review Castle Howard with gifted entry and boat ride, but as always, my views are honest.