Belmont Castle facts for kids
Belmont Castle was a large, fancy house in Essex, England. It was built around 1795 and looked like an old medieval castle, even though it was quite new for its time! It had tall walls and a tower, and was surrounded by beautiful gardens. For over a hundred years, Belmont Castle was a very important building in the local area. Sadly, it was taken down in 1943 to make space for a chalk quarry. Today, a local primary school, Belmont Castle Academy, is named after it.
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History of Belmont Castle
Belmont Castle was built around 1795 for a rich local landowner named Zachariah Button. He also owned a nearby chalk quarry.
Life at the Castle
In the 1840s, the Webb family lived at Belmont Castle. They used the grounds for local cricket matches. The house was also a meeting place for people who loved music, as mentioned by the famous pianist Alice Diehl.
Later, from 1880 to 1900, Edward R. Parker lived there. He was a leader in the local community, helping to manage support for people in need. During his time, the castle's park was often used for big local events. For example, in 1884, between 2000 and 3000 people gathered there for a political meeting. They were supporting a new law that would give more people the right to vote.
The Castle's Final Years
In the 1900s, fewer people lived in the castle. The chalk quarries nearby started to grow, slowly taking over the beautiful gardens. Even so, the grounds were still used for charity events into the 1930s.
The last family to live in the whole house, the Dobree family, left in 1930. After that, the big mansion was split into smaller flats and meeting rooms that people could rent. The remaining land was used by local farmers for their cattle. The Tilbury Gas Company also rented part of the land for a sports field and used some rooms in the mansion as changing rooms.
The Associated Portland Cement Company bought the property. They had the mansion taken down in 1943 to make way for even more chalk quarrying.
Architecture and Design
Belmont Castle was designed to look like a medieval baronial castle. It had battlements (the notched tops of castle walls) and a tall, four-story tower. This tower offered great views of the River Thames.
Inside the Castle
People who visited the castle long ago were impressed by how fancy and elegant the inside was. The rooms matched the castle-like style of the outside. The library, where books were kept, was shaped like an oval. It had special bookshelves built into the walls. From the library, stone steps led down to a terrace outside.
The Castle Grounds
The castle grounds were very large and beautiful. They included a big walled kitchen garden where fruits and vegetables were grown. There was even a hothouse, which is like a greenhouse, for growing plants that needed warmth.
Around the house were wide "pleasure grounds" with many different trees, shrubs, and plants. On one side, there was a Gothic temple, which was a small, decorative building. On the other side, there was an orchard (a place with fruit trees) and a paddock (a small field for animals).
There were two main ways to get to the house. One path started from a small building, also in the Gothic style, near the road. The other path came from a different road to the north. The estate was built on top of an old medieval village. It also had several "dene holes," which are old underground tunnels, that were covered up when the gardens were made.
