Castle Howard Urn

Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, 15 miles north of York. One of the grandest private residences in Britain, most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh. It is not a true castle, but this term is often used for English country houses constructed after the castle-building era (c.1500) and not intended for a military function.

Castle Howard has been the home of part of the Howard family for more than 300 years. It is familiar to television and movie audiences as the fictional "Brideshead", both in Granada Television's 1981 adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited and a two-hour 2008 remake for cinema. Today, it is part of the Treasure Houses of England heritage group.

The house is surrounded by a large estate which, at the time of the 7th Earl of Carlisle, covered over 13,000 acres.

Photo 651, May 2011