Castle Howard

Official illustrated guide to Britain's finest country house.

Castle Howard is Britain's finest country house, recognised worldwide as the location for Brideshead Revisited and Bridgerton. Its setting in Yorkshire is amongst the most spectacular of any building in the UK.

Christopher Ridgway, curator at Castle Howard, explores its history and takes the reader on an illustrated tour of the house and its equally magnificent park and grounds. New photography, following a reorganisation of the house, brings to life such treasures as the chapel decoration by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, paintings by Reynolds and Gainsborough, and the extraordinary family Mausoleum and Temple of the Four Winds in the grounds.

Castle Howard was created by Charles Howard, the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, and designed by his two principal architects, Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor. It took shape in the first decade of the 18th century, with later additions, and has been the residence of the Howard family ever since. Today it is one of Britain's favourite visitor attractions.