James Wright with Helen Rowse, 2025
National Trust. Swindon.
Rising proudly from the flat Lincolnshire fens, Tattershall Castle was built by Lord Ralph Cromwell, Treasurer of England, to display his wealth and power. The vast chambers, stained-glass windows and huge fireplaces stamped with heraldry were designed to impress. The castle has since survived conflict, decay and restoration – the Great Tower that stands today is a fragment of a greater whole, now lost. The rescue of the castle by Lord Curzon of Kedleston prompted the first piece of building conservation legislation in the world, and today the castle is one of the earliest and finest surviving examples of English medieval brickwork.
