Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / United Kingdom / Peckforton / Peckforton Castle
Peckforton Castle
Peckforton, England, United Kingdom · Independent · Accessible Luxury
Anthony Salvin built this for John Tollemache between 1844 and 1850: a Grade I Gothic Revival castle that only pretends to be medieval. Gladstone called Tollemache the greatest estate manager of his day. Sandstone came by a purpose-built railway from a quarry a mile west, and the bill was £60,000. You come in through a dry moat and a portcullis, with the real ruins of Beeston Castle on the next hill. Sir George Gilbert Scott called it the very height of masquerading. The Naylor family have run the 48 rooms as a hotel since 2006.
- 48 rooms
- Architect: Anthony Salvin
About Peckforton Castle
- Doctor Who filmed The Time Warrior in the courtyards for the 1973-74 serial, and a 1991 Robin Hood with Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman used the same walls.
- In June 2011 a fire during a wedding did about £6 million of damage. That December the bridegroom admitted arson.
- From 1982 to 1986 Treasure Trap, one of the first live-action role-playing games, was played inside the castle.
- George Latham of Nantwich was the first architect hired, then paid £2,000 to stand aside. Salvin had already worked on the family's Helmingham Hall in Suffolk.
- The Tollemaches left in 1939. Through the Second World War the empty castle housed physically disabled children evacuated from London.
History
Peckforton Castle is a Victorian country house in the form of a medieval castle, built from 1844 to 1850 by Anthony Salvin for John Tollemache, then the largest landowner in Cheshire. Dean and Son of Leftwich were the builders, with stone from a quarry a mile west brought in on a railway laid for the job. The family used it for gatherings more than as a full-time home. Bentley Tollemache left in 1939, and the war years turned it into a hostel for disabled children from London. Evelyn Graybill, an American, bought it in 1988 for £1 million and spent years trying to make it a hotel. The Naylor family bought it in 2006 after a family wedding there. A fire in June 2011, later admitted as arson by the bridegroom, did about £6 million of damage. It has been Grade I since 1952.
The setting
The castle stands in woodland at the north end of the Peckforton Hills, about a mile northwest of the village, at roughly 469 feet. The land drops to the north and west, and the Sandstone Trail runs along the foot of those slopes. Beeston Castle, the genuine medieval ruin, is on the next hill, about three quarters of a mile north.
Restaurants and bars
- 1851 Restaurant — Restaurant · fine dining
- 2010 Brasserie — Restaurant
- Wine Cellar — Bar
Experiences
- Land Rover Experience — Off-road exploration of the surrounding grounds, with Beeston Castle visible from the off-road course.
- Falconry displays — Trained owls deliver rings during ceremonies.
Amenities
- Candlelit Wine Cellar bar
- Open fires
- Land Rover Experience off-road course
- Dedicated wedding coordinators
- Exclusive use – one wedding per day
- Keys to the Castle exclusivity upgrade
- Late availability wedding packages
- Bespoke wedding packages
Open Peckforton Castle in the atlas for live weekend rates, photos, and the full folio.