Tours, Talks & Private Views 2011 Tours

The best way to experience the extensive Castle Howard landscape is to walk through it, measuring what you see with your eye and your feet. The route between the Temple, Mausoleum, Pyramid, Mock Fortifications, Gatehouse, and Avenue is full of dramatic surprises; with each step you travel through the landscape but also journey back in time to the early 18th century when the grounds were first fashioned, and on to later eras when these features were changed or restored.

The Mausoleum Mausoleum tours last Mausoleum Tours 2-2½hrs, Monumental Visit the most mysterious and imposing tours slightly longer; sensible footwear is building in the Castle Howard landscape, where recommended, see generations of the Howard family are buried website for further in the vaults beneath the spectacular chapel. details. The evening tour The tour also includes a visit to the Temple of on 7 June includes wine the Four Winds not normally open to the public. and canapés in the Temple. The premium Monumental Tours tour on 2 June includes This circuit walk covers the heart of the famous lunch in the Grecian Hall after the morning tour, 18th-century landscape taking in the Avenue, followed by a rare Gatehouse, Mock Fortifications, Pyramid, opportunity to view Mausoleum, and Temple, with exclusive access estate maps and other to these buildings. material from the archives.

The Temple of the Four Winds The Pyramid Talks

The 2011 series of talks is divided into a spring and an autumn went smoothly and not so smoothly during the visit, as well as the disastrous season, with an opportunity to sign up to all four events if you wish. rumpus that followed the departure of the royal couple. The BBC series Royal Upstairs Downstairs, which chronicles the visits of The Castle Howard Landscape Victoria and Albert to aristocratic houses in England, will be broadcast in 2011. Filled with gardens, lakes, Grand Tours and Farcical Journeys: The Howard Family on their Travels fountains, temples, woods, statues and monuments, Castle Howard Every generation of the Howard family went on their travels, with visits to is more than just a celebrated Russia, Italy, North America, the Middle East, Africa, and India, where they example of the early 18th-century encountered highwaymen, seasickness, kidnap, and the delights of culinary landscape garden. Important traditions. They returned with armfuls of treasures but also priceless records changes occurred in the Victorian of their adventures in the form of journals and drawings. era, as well as in the 20th century, and today it is still very much a living, working landscape. This talk coincides with the publication in 2011 of Mike Kipling’s spectacular book The Gardens at Castle Howard with an introduction by Christopher Ridgway.

Gaslight and Riot: The Visit of Queen Victoria to Castle Howard Close confidant of the Royal Family, George Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle, invited Victoria and Albert to visit Castle Howard in the summer of 1850. This talk recounts the planning behind this momentous event, and what

Castle Howard and Brideshead: Fact, Fiction and In-Between Used not just once but twice as the spectacular location for Brideshead in two lavish screen versions of this story, what exactly is the relationship between Evelyn Waugh’s celebrated novel Brideshead Revisited and the Howards of Castle Howard?

Following each talk there will be a chance to view related material from the archives. The evening will end with wine and canapés. Private Views

In addition there will be two special evenings when hidden treasures from the collections will be on view for people to look at and even handle.

Each evening will end with wine and canapés.

A History of Castle Howard in Twelve Objects Building on the success of the BBC Radio Four series A History of the World in 100 Objects, Castle Howard is offering its own variation on this inspirational theme. For one evening you will be introduced to the twelve objects that best represent the entire story of Castle Howard over three centuries. What do you think these might be?

Treasures from the Library of Castle Howard Assembled over three centuries, the library at Castle Howard contains an astonishing variety of material: colour plate books, volumes of engravings, children’s literature, fine bindings, as well as manuscript material from the archives. After an introductory talk you will be free to browse and handle an enticing selection. Calendar

Dates and prices are as follows. There is a special offer for the spring or autumn series of talks. ● Sign up for all four in advance for the price of three. Discounts available for Annual Pass Members.

19 March Mausoleum Tour £25

2 April Mausoleum Tour (Annual Pass Members) n/a

5 April Grand Tours and Farcical Journeys: The Howard Family and £40 their Travels ●

19 April Gaslight and Riot: The Visit of Queen Victoria to Castle Howard ● £40

3 May Castle Howard and Brideshead: Fact, Fiction and In-Between ● £40

17 May The Story of the Castle Howard Landscape ● £40

2 June Premium Monumental Tour £70

7 June Mausoleum Tour (evening) £40

21 July Treasures from the Library £40

28 July A History of Castle Howard in Twelve Objects £40

20 September The Story of the Castle Howard Landscape ● £40

22 September Mausoleum Tour £25

27 September Castle Howard and Brideshead: Fact, Fiction and In-Between ● £40

30 September Mausoleum Tour (Annual Pass Members) n/a

11 October Gaslight and Riot: The Visit of Queen Victoria to Castle Howard ● £40

15 October Monumental Tour £30

18 October Grand Tours and Farcical Journeys: The Howard Family and £40 their Travels ●

How to book Please contact Visitor Services on 01653 648621, or [email protected] See website for further details where there are also video clips of the curator introducing these events. Castle Howard, York, YO60 7DA Groups welcome. www.castlehoward.co.uk