Norris Castle is located on the Isle of Wight. It was designed by James Wyatt for Lord Henry Seymour. The estate adjoins Osborne House, country home to Queen Victoria. On the other side of Norris Castle sits the Spring Hill estate, bought by William Goodrich in 1794. Norris Castle was built in 1799 and sits in 225 acres of land, with a mile of waterfront. The Castle is a Grade I listed building.
The parks and gardens at Norris Castle are the Isle of Wight's only Grade I landscape listed by Historic England. The landscape at Norris Castle is thought to have been designed in 1799 by Humphry Repton, and it includes a castellated walled garden.
Despite its grandeur, the castle's condition has long suffered due to lack of funding for its upkeep.Isle of Wight County Press dated 17 May 1975, Page 14
At the present time, the castle is closed to the public, awaiting restoration.
Name The name comes from the (le) Noreys family, taken from an estate called Norys (1519), Norres (1559), Norris (1611).
Features
Norris Castle has a galleted facade with crenellations, but all of this is for show, as the castle has no defensive fortifications. The building's original function was as a residence. The main castle has 15 bedrooms, a grand hall, a circular drawing room and extensive cellars.
The estate includes a two-bedroom Lodge Cottage, four-bedroom Farmhouse, three-bedroom Farmhouse Cottage and a two-bedroom Landing House. James Wyatt also designed the farmyard buildings that are further inland, which have a similar design to the castle itself.
There are also extensive traditional farm buildings and stabling, a walled garden, a modern two-bedroom farm building and parkland and woodland.
Owners
Lord Henry Seymour (1795–1830)
The first owner and builder of Norris Castle was the politician, Lord Henry Seymour, who bought the estate in 1795, at the age of 49. Having retired, he spent the rest of his life building and improving the Norris Castle estate. It is said that it cost £195,000 to originally build. He had a reputation for both eccentricity and benevolence. His personal habits were also said to be those of extreme simplicity and frugality.Isle of Wight County Press dated 18 February 1939, Page 11
Seymour commissioned stained glass from William Raphael Eginton. Circa 1816, Eginton described it as a "Heraldic Window in Saloon, on Mosaic Ground.".
There is an account of a visit by J and H Oldershaw to the island in 1826 and their reminiscences of Lord Seymour. They described him as an eccentric character and an old retired bachelor, who by all accounts had not left the island for 20 or 30 years. They said that his normal attire of blue jacket and trousers, together with hobnailed boots, made him look more like a labourer, for which he was frequently mistaken. He would often work in hedges and ditches with his men and would even go into town in his dung cart. He would also play jokes on his visitors by pretending to be a labourer, whilst showing them around the estate. He was even known to accept money from them, which he would give to his servants, saying "Here you are. I have got you something today!".Isle of Wight County Press dated 4 May 1929, Page 3
After completing his work on the estate, Lord Seymour opened the castle up to the public, to allow them to share its charm and magnificent views. After his death in 1830 at the age of 84, the castle remained closed to the public for over 140 years, when it was opened up again in 1975.
In August 1830, the Dauphiness and Duchess De Berri, accompanying the expatriated King of France, visited Norris Castle. The king had abdicated on 2 August and left France for England on 16 August, when it seemed that the royal party's safety was in jeopardy from angry mobs of French citizens. One of their first ports of call was Cowes and East Cowes. The Princesses were said to be charmed by the scenery of the island, although they complained of their 'stinted' lodgings at the Fountain Hotel. They did however, indicate that they would like to take up residence at Norris Castle.Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette dated 26 August 1830, Page 3
Lord George Seymour (1830–1839)
Following the death of Lord Henry Seymour, the estate passed to his brother, Lord George Seymour, who was 67 at the time. George Seymour was a politician who represented Orford between 1784 and 1790 and Totnes between 1796 and 1801.
He kept the Castle for nine years, before selling it in 1839 to Robert Bell.
Mr Robert Bell (1839–1880)
Mr Robert Bell was a newspaper tycoon, who owned amongst others, the Weekly Dispatch, which he founded in 1801.Tamworth Herald dated 4 December 1880 In 1928 the newspaper was renamed to the Sunday Dispatch, which in turn was merged with the Sunday Express in 1961.
One of the accomplishments of Mr Bell, was that it was he who built the mile long sea wall, which both protects the estate's coastline and also gives a view of the castle. The cost of building the wall was said to be over £20,000.Isle of Wight County Press dated 10 January 1903, Page 5
In 1940, a pair of silver 7-light candelabra engraved with the inscription "Presented by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent to Robert Bell, Esq., Norris Castle, 1859" was sold at Christie's for £40 11s. 6d.Isle of Wight County Press dated 19 October 1940, Page 2
Norris Castle was sold to the Duke of Bedford by Robert Bell in 1880.Leighton Buzzard Observer and Linslade Gazette dated 15 June 1880, Page 4
The Duke and Duchess of Bedford (1880–1897)
In 1880, Elizabeth Russell, the Duchess of Bedford was appointed Mistress of the Robes to Queen Victoria. So that they could be near Osborne, her husband, Francis Russell, the Duke of Bedford bought Norris Castle in 1880.The Globe dated 12 June 1880, Page 6
In July 1887, the Frederick III, German Emperor and Victoria, Princess Royal, spent about a month in this castle. Princess Victoria was the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria. Prince Frederick was suffering from his throat problem and was under treatment of the famous British Laryngologist Morell Mackenzie and after an operation on 28 June 1887, Prince Fredrick came to stay in this castle for a rest and recovery. Later, the throat problem of Prince Frederick was proved to be a rare case of Laryngeal Cancer and he succumbed to his illness on 15 June 1888, just after 99 days of ruling as the German Emperor Kaiser Frederick IIIMorell Mackenzie. The Fatal Illness of Frederick the Noble. Sampson Low, Martson, Searle & Rivington. London (1888) Page-52
In July 1890, Viscount Cantelupe and his bride spent their honeymoon at Norris Castle, as guests of the Duke and Duchess. The Viscount was killed at sea in 1915, whilst on active service during the First World War.Isle of Wight County Press dated 5 July 1890, Page 4
The Duke of Bedford died in 1891, at the age of 71, in Eaton Square, London. He committed suicide by shooting himself, when said to be in a state of temporary insanity, whilst suffering from pneumonia.Isle of Wight County Press dated 24 January 1891, Page 8 The Duchess died in 1897, at the age of 78, in Latimer House, Buckinghamshire.Isle of Wight County Press dated 24 April 1897, Page 5
Lord Ampthill (1897–1903)
Following the death of the Duchess of Bedford, the estate was inherited by the late Duke of Bedford's nephew, the 28 year old Sir Arthur Oliver Villiers Russell , who was the 2nd Baron Ampthill. He immediately declared that he wished to sell the estate and the aging Queen Victoria again considered buying it.Shield's Daily Gazette dated 5 August 1897, Page 3 This of course never happened.
Lord Ampthill served as the Governor of Madras from October 1900 to February 1906 and acted as the Viceroy of India from April to December 1904.
In 1898, it was reported that a peacock belonging to Lord Ampthill had been shot and stolen from the Norris Castle estate.Isle of Wight County Press date2 17 December 1898, Page 8
In July 1899, it was reported that he let out Norris Castle for the summer to the eccentric Philadelphia millionaire A J Drexel, for the yachting season.Isle of Wight County Press dated 8 July 1899, Page 5 At around the same time, Lord Ampthill put Norris Castle up for sale.Isle of Wight County Press dated 29 July 1899, Page 4 Drexel was a frequent visitor to Cowes and berthed his 'palatial' steam yacht Margarita there for a long time.Isle of Wight County Press dated 31 December 1904, Page 5 The Margarita was 323 feet in length, being at the time, the largest steam yacht built on the Clyde, Glasgow. She weighed over 1800 tons.Isle of Wight County Press dated 5 May 1900, Page 6
Whilst still awaiting sale, the castle was later occupied for a while by Lady DudleyIsle of Wight County Press dated 25 August 1900, Page 5 and also by Captain John Orr-Ewing and his wife Ellen Clarissa Kennard.Isle of Wight County Press dated 3 January 1903, Page 5 John, a captain in the 4th Dragoon Guards and a noted yachtsman, was the son of Sir Archibald Orr-Ewing Ellen was a noted singer, who 'gracefully performed' the opening ceremony of an Egyptian themed fund raising event at Victoria Hall, Cowes, in 1902. She was accompanied by their five year old daughter Jean.Isle of Wight County Press dated 15 March 1902, Page 2
In January 1903, it was reported that Lord Ampthill had sold the castle to a syndicate, although it was said that Captain and Mrs Orr-Ewing would be staying on for a time. This was proved to be the case, as in March 1903, the Orr-Ewings hosted what was thought to be the first fox hunt held at Norris castle. The hunt covered a lot of ground, as they chased a fox from Whippingham Station to Staplers.Isle of Wight County Press dated 21 March 1903, Page 8
The 'Syndicate' (1903–1908)
At the time of the sale, it was reported that Lord Ampthill was probably wise to sell the castle at that time, as it was indicated that Norris Castle had started to fall into a state of disrepair. It was predicted that over the next few years there would be rapid development of the estate, by the building company that had taken over ownership.Isle of Wight County Press dated 17 January 1903, Page 5
In March 1904, there was an extensive burglary at Norris Castle, at a time when Captain Orr-Ewing was away from home. Mrs Orr-Ewing was awakened in the early hours of the morning by hearing a noise downstairs. On going downstairs, she discovered that the house had been burgled, but the perpetrators had already fled the scene. Entry had been gained by breaking ground-floor windows and articles of considerable value had been taken. These included Captain Orr-Ewing's silver yachting trophies inscribed with Nyama (the name of his yacht), two hammerless guns in a leather case, inscribed with the monogram "Sir W Orr-Ewing", silver boxes, a gilt clock and articles of clothing.Isle of Wight County Press dated 5 March 1904, Page 5 A week later, many of the stolen articles were recovered when they were found abandoned in the estate's grounds.Bournemouth Daily Echo dated 14 March 1904, Page 3 The Orr-Ewing's moved out of Norris Castle shortly after.
In July 1904, it was reported that the castle was occupied for a time by the American businessman John Morgan Richards and his wife. Their daughter, Pearl Mary Craigie, was a famous novelist, who wrote under the pseudonym John Oliver Hobbes.Hampshire Advertiser dated 2 July 1904, Page 7 By 1906, when their daughter died suddenly of heart failure at the age of 39, they were living at Steephill, Isle of Wight.Arbroath Herald and Advertiser for the Montrose Burghs dated 23 August 1906, Page 3