In retrospect, I wish I had seen the show since Google isn’t particularly detailed about Sizergh's history. Most internet entries say that the place has been in the Strickland family for 800 years. It seems that the Deincourt family owned the land from the 1170s and then Elizabeth Deincourt married Sir William de Stirkeland in 1239 and so was passed into the hands of the Strickland family. It was gifted to the National Trust in 1950.  Thomas de Strickland is famous for carrying the English banner at Agincourt. There also seems to be a Jacobite connection with the family which obviously didn’t make them too popular with the royalty of that time. Not surprisingly, it seems that they were exiled in France during the Jacobite period.  I found plenty of portraits of the great and good throughout the place and so it would be possible to trace the family history if that is your thing. It isn’t mine though and I was quite content to walk through the castle and inspect whatever curiosities caught my fancy. 

Castle

The core of the castle is a 14th century pele tower. I wondered why a skilled Brazilian footballer would get involved in sponsoring the place, but further reading indicated that ‘pele’ is pronounced as ‘peel’. A Tudor house was  built around the tower making a central courtyard. I’d walked through this impressive area when I’d approached the front entrance. As with all National Trust properties, the interior was very gloomy in order to protect the furnishings from sunlight. I felt that I needed a a headtorch to inspect some of the exhibits. In some rooms it was even problematic reading the information notes. A lot of the rooms had dark wooden wall panels which made the place even darker.  

There were a few large tapestries hung on the walls. In one of the rooms a film documentary described how a water leak came through the ceiling and damaged some items. The ceiling was still discoloured from the event. In order to make the piece even more dramatic, a moving image of pouring water was projected onto the walls themselves making it look as though the leak was happening now. There were a few four poster beds on display. I’m not sure what the attraction is with these things. I couldn't get a good night’s sleep with the knowledge that a huge slab of wood was being supported directly above my head. I also noticed a phone on a table on the side of each bed. Looking at the labels on the buttons of the phone, I noted that it had direct links to various parts of the house such as the North Bedroom, Library or North Wing. I thought about pressing the Kitchen button and seeing if somebody would bring me a cheese and onion sandwich up, but in the end I didn't. I'm not sure why they didn't use the normal cord and bell mechanism here.

The dining room seemed a lot brighter. A large rifle and pieces of armour were hung around the fireplace. Given the amount of weaponry in the castle, the family were well prepared to tackle any burglars. The benches alongside the long dining table all had sprigs of holly on their seats. This is the tactful way that the National Trust instructs visitors not to sit on the items. Having once sat on a sprig of holly (somebody had hid it in my cushion at work) I can confirm that it is an effective deterrent. 

One of the bedrooms had the most unpleasant rocking crib I’ve ever seen. Apart from the dismal dark wood décor, the item was decorated with fearsome serpent-like beasts with large teeth. I couldn’t imagine a baby getting a good night’s sleep in that thing. There was also a Johannes Player Fecit  harpsichord in the room. If the nightmarish crib wouldn’t get the baby to sleep, maybe they used to play a few bars of jarring notes with the harpsichord to ease their slumber.    

I’d found myself on the top floor of the castle. The National Trust gave me the option of using a spiral stone staircase to descend, or an easier route. I went for the excitement of the spiral stone staircase. It was a bit like sliding down a helter-skelter and it delivered me at great speed into the front entrance of the castle again. Well, that was the tour of the castle done; now for the gardens. 

Castle Gardens

Dazzling sunshine greeted me as I departed the Castle. The rainclouds from this morning had moved on to trouble somebody else. I left the courtyard and made my way around to the Kitchen Garden. The surrounding trees were filled with autumn colours. Despite it being mid-September the flower beds were still full of colour too. My favourite plant in the kitchen garden had to be the specimen of Swiss Chard (I think). It looked like an alien creature with its crimson stems. I made my way into the orchard where the trees were full of apples, all ripe for picking and eating. I wouldn’t have minded sampling some of the different varieties, but there weren’t any for sale. 

There were many paths throughout the gardens and I found one that took me down to the lake. This was on the east side of the house and provided a picturesque foreground to the castle. It was too pretty by half. Much of the lake had been commandeered by water lilies. A set of steps descended from the castle to a viewing area at the side of the lake. It was a perfect sun spot. 

On the west side of the castle, some small bushes/trees had been cut into an avenue of green pyramids. The gardeners must be kept very busy at Sizergh Castle. I visited  a large, old barn on the west side of the castle. This contained a small wooden boat and a set of mobile ladders that once must have formed part of the equipment to deal with any fires. 

My tour of the Sizergh Castle and its gardens was now complete. It was well worth the visit, especially since I could use my National Trust membership card and so didn’t pay anything on the day. There were plenty of curiosities in the Castle to keep me entertained. I’d even seen my first Platypus, although admittedly a dead one. The gardens were superb and probably the prettiest of those of the National Trust that I’ve visited. Combining a trip around the castle and gardens with a walk in the estate (see Rainbow Rising Over Sizergh Castle) was ideal. 

As a postscript, I ordered a large coffee at the National Trust café. They had a system where you make your order and pay with one person, and then you shuffle along and pick up your order from a second person. Well, the second person informed me that they didn’t do large coffees and I she gave me a regular sized one instead. It seemed like a canny commercial trick to me. It didn’t spoil a good day out though.