Amicia de Moubray

This is a very lovely coffee-table book about modern castles in Britain.

While the term castle is mostly associated with medieval times, there have been several of them built in recent centuries.

This book looks at some of these fascinating buildings which were conceived in the last century.

Many of these were renovations or reconstructions of already existing sites.

Among the most picturesque British castles is the famous Eilean Donan castle in Scotland which while seemingly ancient was only recreated in 1913-32.

Often it was rich tycoons like William Waldorf Astor or Randolph Hearst who wanted to fulfil their romantic fantasies by purchasing decaying castles and rebuilding them into grandiose architectural complexes.

There are however also some more modest dwellings included such as Braylsham Castle built for a paltry 400.000 Pounds by the Mew family in the 1990s.

“Mr. Mew has deeply held philosophical views on what exactly constitutes the ideal way to live. His researches into social anthropology led him to the conclusion that a castle on an island is the ideal dwelling: a castle with its traditional accoutrements, such as look-out turrets, and a drawbridge give an innate feeling of security. A modern house is just a sort of block. His wife, Jo, a physiotherapist, spends her days working in hospitals and did not want to come home to another sterile environment.”

Lucky people! Most of us can only escape their sterile environment by looking at books such as this.… (more)