England · Restored
Thurland Castle
Thurland Castle is a former defensive castle and later country house in Lancashire, England, set on a mound and surrounded by a water-filled moat within parkland. The present appearance largely dates from an 1879–1885 rebuilding by Paley and Austin; the stone house and ancillary buildings have since been converted into apartments.
First raised
1400
Its prime
1885
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1885
What Thurland Castle looked like in its prime.
Thurland Castle stands on a raised mound encircled by a water-filled moat, reached by an arched stone bridge. Built of sandstone rubble with slate roofs, its plan comprises two principal ranges on the north and west sides of a central courtyard. Two towers punctuate the roofline, one two-storey, one three-storey, with embattled parapets. Windows are mullioned or mullioned-and-transomed, and terraces with masonry bastions step down toward the moat.
Its story
The story of Thurland Castle.
Sir Thomas Tunstall's Licence to Crenellate, 1402
The earliest surviving fabric at Thurland dates from the 14th century. The castle stands on a mound between the villages of Cantsfield and Tunstall in Lancashire, encircled by a moat, with the River Greta running to the south and the Cant beck to the north. It was originally a defensive structure, one of a number of castles in the Lune Valley.
In 1402 Sir Thomas Tunstall, who died on 5 November 1415, was licensed to crenellate the building. It then passed through successive generations of his family.
Sir Brian Tunstall, the Stainless Knight, 1513–1544
Thurland was eventually inherited by Sir Thomas's great-grandson, Sir Brian Tunstall, who died at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. Sir Brian was a younger son of Thomas Tunstall III and the heir of his brother Thomas IV. The king dubbed him the "Stainless Knight", and Sir Walter Scott later immortalised him in the poem Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field. His son Marmaduke was High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1544.
The Girlingtons and the Parliamentarian Siege of 1643
The castle stayed in Tunstall hands for two or three more generations until it was sold to John Girlington in 1605. It passed to his grandson Sir John Girlington, a Royalist major-general during the Civil War. Parliamentarian forces besieged Thurland in 1643. The damage was described as ruinous. Sir John's son, also named John, was High Sheriff of Lancashire for 1663.
Fire and the Paley and Austin Rebuilding, 1810–1885
Work to convert the building into a country house was carried out in 1810 by Jeffry Wyattville, and again in 1826–29 by George Webster. In 1876 the house was gutted by fire. Its owner, Mr North North, commissioned the Lancaster architects Paley and Austin to rebuild it; work began in 1879, employed over a hundred men, and was not completed until 1885. What stands today is mainly their work, mixing Elizabethan Revival with Gothic Revival.
The Lees Family and Listing, 1885 Onwards
From 1885 until the early 20th century Thurland Castle belonged to the coal-mining Lees family, formerly of Clarksfield near Oldham; from a junior branch of that family came the writer James Lees-Milne. The castle was designated a Grade II* listed building on 4 October 1967 and is recorded as such in the National Heritage List for England. The house and stables have since been converted into several apartments.
Step inside
10 places to explore in 1885.
The record describes 10 distinct spots at Thurland Castle, including the full exterior approach. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Thurland Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1885, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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Clans who held Thurland Castle.
The families that held Thurland Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Tunstall
Held through successive generations of the Tunstalls, Sir Brian Tunstall fell at Flodden in 1513, until sold in 1605.
Girlington
Bought by John Girlington in 1605; his grandson Sir John Girlington was a Royalist major-general in the Civil War.
Lees
Owned by the coal-mining Lees family from 1885 until the early 20th century.
