England · Still standing
Banwell Castle
Banwell Castle is a Victorian Gothic Revival country house in Banwell, Somerset, built as a castellated mansion in the mid-19th century and later embellished. It remains a private family home and is a Grade II* listed building used for events and short-stay accommodation.
Its prime
1885
Today
Still standing
As it stood in 1885
What Banwell Castle looked like in its prime.
A three-storey, castellated Gothic Revival mansion with a symmetrical main block of five vertical window bays set between small circular turrets and larger octagonal and hexagonal towers at the ends. The roofline is crenellated with embattled parapets; a broad terrace with a trefoil-pierced parapet steps down onto a formal lawn. A chamfered double-arched gatehouse with circular embattled towers and wrought-iron gates guards the approach; ancillary coachhouse and garden towers sit to the sides and within the walled kitchen garden.
Its story
The story of Banwell Castle.
Banwell Castle is a Victorian Gothic Revival mansion in Banwell, Somerset, built as his home by John Dyer Sympson, a solicitor from London, on land that had belonged to the Bishop of Bath and Wells and was sold in 1753 to John and Joan Landown. The three-storey main block sits between small circular turrets, with further octagonal and hexagonal towers, and fronts a terrace whose gate piers carry lions rampant with swords.
The house was expanded and embellished in the 1880s under Sir Elskin Baker, other owners and tenants having included Henry and Elizabeth Pigou from 1854 to 1874; in 1883 the estate was sold to the Shaw Yates family of Rotherham. After Mrs Hope's death in 1916 the estate was sold to Richard Calvert, who in 1919 had the Bristol architect Sir George Oatley carry out remodelling, and in 1963 it was sold to Simon and Phillipa Wills.
The coachhouse carries a tall circular turret and once held a granary on its first floor; the gatehouse has a chamfered double arch between embattled circular towers, with wrought-iron gates bearing heraldic motifs. Grade II* listed, Banwell Castle remains a private family home, used for weddings, pre-booked dinners and bed and breakfast.
Step inside
9 places to explore in 1885.
The record describes 9 distinct spots at Banwell Castle — including 1 interior: coachhouse first-floor granary chamber. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Create History
Recreate Banwell Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1885 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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