Mulgrave Castle

Mulgrave Castle stands on a ridge near Whitby in North Yorkshire. Three separate buildings occupy the same grounds: an ancient legend-built structure, a ruined Norman castle, and an 18th-century castellated mansion. The oldest part is said to have been founded by Wada, a 6th-century ruler of Hälsingland. The Norman castle once formed the caput of a large feudal barony with thirty-three and a half knight’s fees. Its western approach crossed a moat by drawbridge between two stone towers. Bricks from the original Roman road were reused in its walls. The site witnessed centuries of power struggles and royal connections. Nigel Fossard, recorded in the Domesday Book, built the Norman stronghold after the Conquest. The barony passed through families including de Mauley, Bigot and Radcliffe before reaching the Sheffields, who became Earls of Mulgrave. During the English Civil War the castle was garrisoned by royalists and later dismantled by Parliament in 1647. Peter III de Mauley was summoned to Parliament in 1296, creating the barony of Mauley. Today the estate belongs to the Phipps family, Marquesses of Normanby. The 18th-century mansion, built by Lady Catherine Sheffield, Duchess of Buckingham and Normanby, overlooks landscaped grounds. A summerhouse marks the site of a 12th-century hermitage founded by William de Percy. In 1858 the last Maharajah of the Punjab leased the castle, and in 2003 a supermodel held a shooting estate lease. The garden occasionally opens to visitors, offering views across the surrounding countryside.