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Bolsover CastleBolsover is a 17th-century country house built on the site of a Norman fortress. Sir Charles Cavendish started the construction of the Little Castle in 1612. The completed house, built as a romantic retreat rather than a castle, includes vaulted chambers, wall paintings, elaborately designed fireplaces and battlements.
Of interest is the Star Chamber, the ‘Great Chamber’ of the Little Castle. Only family and privileged guests would be allowed to ascend this far for meals or entertainment. The striking ceiling has been recreated to look as it would have done when it was first painted in 1618-19. Blue ceilings, resembling the heavens, were a common feature of royal palaces and chapels at that time.
Contrasting with this tower-house of tightly stacked rooms is the once lavish Terrace Range of state rooms. Built in the 1630s, it was a result of William Cavendish’s ambition to obtain a royal appointment. Also built at this time for William Cavendish’s horses was the Riding House. The huge interior of the central Riding House remains intact, and is the finest, surviving example in England of this specialised type of building. This huge room was not used for learning to ride, but for the art of Manège. Popular at the time with fashionable gentlemen, Manège involved making horses circle, leap or kneel.
Outside is the enclosed garden, an ‘outdoor room’, furnished with love seats and statuary, at the centre of which sits the Venus Fountain. Restored by English Heritage, the fountain plays again for the first time in centuries. Bolsover Castle Admission: Adults £5.00, Concessions £3.80,
Location: Bolsover Castle
Open: 1st
April - 30th September 10am - 6pm daily
Web: For
more information on Bolsover Castle The following companies specialise in the hire of 17th century furnishings:
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