Greystoke Castle

About Greystoke Castle

The Greystoke Castle Estate lies five miles west of Penrith on the north-eastern side of the Lake District National Park. Being only ten minutes drive from both the M6 motorway and the west coast main line, it is readily accessible despite its remote location.

The Estate covers some three thousand acres of very mixed terrain and rises to twelve hundred feet above sea-level. It was traditionally a sporting estate and deer park; much of the ten feet high dry-stone deer wall survives to this day.

The castle itself dates back almost a thousand years although, having been largely destroyed by Oliver Cromwell and latterly badly damaged by fire, much of the interior is early Victorian. It was lived in by eighteen generations of de Greystokes before being acquired by the Howards by marriage, fourteen generations of whom have lived here thus far.

Almost invisible from any road, the castle is secluded, tranquil and private; the bustle of the rest of the world is in a different place. Despite this, it enjoys stunning views of the mountains of the north-east lakes and the northern Pennines.