Peckforton Castle

Sir John Tollemache, a wealthy Cheshire landowner and member of Parliament, commissioned Anthony Salvin to build the castle between 1844 and 1850. Dean and Son carried out the work, Joseph Cookson served as clerk of works, and a railway brought red sandstone from a nearby quarry. The Tollemaches created a family home, but made it look and work in many respects like a carefully studied medieval stronghold.

The castle was never tested in medieval war because it was built centuries too late. Its fortress form may partly reflect fear of unrest in the industrial towns nearby, as well as a wish to display the standing of Cheshire's largest landowner. Electric light and central heating arrived before the family moved in during the 1890s. Evacuated disabled children lived here during the Second World War; later uses included a private home, film and television location, early live role-playing venue and hotel. A deliberately started fire during a 2011 wedding caused severe damage.

A dry moat, gatehouse, studded oak gates, narrow openings, battlements and towers still surround a complete inner ward. The great hall keeps its stone ribbed vault, tiled floor and vast fireplace, while the long gallery, library, drawing room, octagonal dining room, wine cellar, kitchens and fifth-floor racket room reveal the comforts and workings of a great Victorian household. The private chapel and entrance lodge complete Salvin's planned group.

Peckforton has been called the last serious fortified home built in England. Unlike a loose collection of medieval-looking details, its walls, rooms and services form a sustained castle design executed to exceptional standards. It shows how a nineteenth-century landowner could use architecture to join practical shelter, family life, social power and imagined defence, while its later rescue for new uses kept that rare completeness intact.