Bruce Castle facts for kids
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Bruce Castle is a very old house in Tottenham, London. It was built in the 16th century and is one of the oldest brick houses still standing in England. It's named after the House of Bruce, a famous Scottish family who used to own the land. Over the years, the house has been changed and updated many times.
Many important people have lived here, including Sir William Compton (who worked for King Henry VIII) and Sir Rowland Hill, who invented the postage stamp! In the 1800s, it became a school. Today, Bruce Castle is a museum where you can learn about the history of the local area, Haringey, and also about the history of the Royal Mail because of its connection to Rowland Hill. The building also keeps important historical records for Haringey. The land around the castle became a public park in 1892, making it Tottenham's oldest park.
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Why is it called Bruce Castle?
The name Bruce Castle comes from the House of Bruce family. They owned a part of the land in Tottenham a long time ago. However, there was never a real castle here, and it's unlikely the Bruce family ever lived in this specific house.
When Robert the Bruce became King of Scotland in 1306, he lost his lands in England, including the Tottenham property. This ended the family's direct connection to the area. For many years, the house was known as the Lordship House. The name Bruce Castle only started being used much later, around the late 1600s.
What does Bruce Castle look like?
Next to the main house, there's a round, brick tower. Many people think this tower is the oldest part of the building. It's about 21 feet (6.4 meters) tall with very thick walls. In 2006, digging showed that it goes deep underground. In the past, it was used as a dairy and was built over a deep well.
No one knows the exact date the house was first built. Some clues suggest parts of it might be from the 1400s, while others think it's from the late 1500s. The front of the house has been changed a lot over time. It's made of red brick with stone corners and tall windows. Bruce Castle is one of the first English houses to use brick as the main building material.
In 1684, Henry Hare, 2nd Baron Coleraine made big changes to the house. He made the ends of the house taller and rebuilt the main entrance with stone decorations and a small tower on top. Later, in the early 1700s, Henry Hare, 3rd Baron Coleraine added more rooms to the north side of the house.
In the late 1700s, when James Townsend owned the house, the narrow east side was changed to look like a typical Georgian house, which was popular at the time. The gabled roofs on the south side were removed, giving it the look it has today.
In the early 1800s, the west side of the house was taken down, which is why it looks a bit uneven now. When it became a school, a large three-story extension was added in 1870.
Recent digs in 2006 found the foundations of an even older building on the site, but we don't know much about it. Old records from 1742 mention repairing a drawbridge, which suggests the house might have had a moat (a ditch filled with water) around it at one point!
Who lived here first?
Many believe the first owner was Sir William Compton, a close friend of King Henry VIII, who bought the land in 1514. However, there's no clear proof that he actually lived in the house, and some think the building might be from a bit later.
The first definite mention of the house is from 1516, when King Henry VIII met his sister, Margaret, Queen of Scots, at "Maister Compton's House." The Compton family owned the building throughout the 1500s.
In the early 1600s, Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset, owned the house. He had many debts from gambling, so he leased and then sold the house to a wealthy man named Hugh Hare, 1st Baron Coleraine.
The Hare Family (1600s)
Hugh Hare, 1st Baron Coleraine
Hugh Hare (1606–1667) became very rich from his great-uncle. He bought the Tottenham land, including the Lordship House, in 1625 and soon became a Baron.
Hugh Hare was close to King Charles I, so his wealth suffered during the English Civil War. His other homes were taken by the Parliament's army. He died in 1667, and his son, Henry Hare, 2nd Baron Coleraine, took over.
Henry Hare, 2nd Baron Coleraine
Henry Hare (1635–1708) moved into the Lordship House and renamed it Bruce Castle. He did this to honor the old connection between the area and the House of Bruce. Henry Hare was also a historian and wrote the first history of Tottenham.
The house was greatly changed in 1684, after Henry Hare married Sarah Alston. Many parts of the south side of the house that you see today are from this time. The central tower with a viewing platform was a popular design in England during the late 1500s and early 1600s.
The Ghostly Lady of Bruce Castle
Henry Hare's first wife, Constantia, died young. Not much is known about her life or death, but it's said that her ghost haunts the castle!
The first story about the ghost appeared in a local newspaper in 1858, almost 200 years after she died. The story says that one of the Lords Coleraine (Henry Hare) became very angry with his beautiful wife. He locked her away in the top rooms of the clock tower. One night, she supposedly broke out and jumped from the roof with her baby in her arms. The story claims that every year in November, her ghostly form can be seen on the roof, and her sad cry can be heard.
This legend is not as well-known today, and there haven't been any recent sightings of the ghost.
Owners in the 1700s
Henry Hare died in 1708, and his grandson, Henry Hare, 3rd Baron Coleraine, took over. This Henry Hare was a famous historian who spent most of his time traveling in Europe, so he only lived at Bruce Castle for short periods.
He also made changes to the house, adding more rooms to the north side and putting the Coleraine family crest on the front.
Henry Hare had a daughter named Henrietta Rosa Peregrina, born in France in 1745. When he died in 1749, he left his property to her. However, because she was French, her claim was challenged. After many years, the estates, including Bruce Castle, were given to her husband, James Townsend.
James Townsend was an important person in London. He was a Member of Parliament and became the Lord Mayor of London in 1772. Henrietta was also a talented artist, and many of her pictures of Tottenham from the 1700s are now in the Bruce Castle Museum.
Under James Townsend's ownership after 1764, the house was changed again. The narrow east side was made into a grand entrance, looking like a typical Georgian house. The gabled roofs on the south side were removed, giving it the look it has today.
James and Henrietta's son, Henry Hare Townsend, wasn't very interested in the property. After renting it out to several people, the house and its land were sold in 1792 to Thomas Smith.
John Eardley Wilmot
John Eardley Wilmot (who lived from about 1749 to 1815) was a Member of Parliament. In 1783, he led a group that looked into the reasons for the American Revolution. He also helped about 60,000 American Loyalists (people who supported Britain) who came to England after the United States became independent. He helped them get compensation and basic housing.
When the French Revolution began in 1789, many French refugees came to England. Wilmot helped create a committee that raised money to provide homes, food, and jobs for these refugees. Many of them settled in the Tottenham area.
In 1804, Wilmot retired and moved to Bruce Castle to write his memories about the American Revolution. He died in 1815. After his death, a London merchant named John Ede bought the house and its land. He then took down the west side of the building.
The Hill School
In 1827, Rowland Hill and his brothers opened a branch of their school at Bruce Castle, with Rowland Hill as the headmaster. The school was run in a very modern way for its time. They believed that teachers should inspire students to learn, not just tell them facts. They also stopped using physical punishment. Instead, if a student broke a rule, they were tried by a court made up of other students! The school taught new subjects like foreign languages, science, and engineering. Many sons of diplomats and even the sons of Charles Babbage, a computing pioneer, attended the school.
In 1839, Rowland Hill, who had suggested big changes to the postal system, became the head of the General Post Office. He then created the world's first postage stamps! His younger brother, Arthur Hill, took over the school.
During the time the school was open, the area around Bruce Castle changed a lot. Tottenham used to be small villages surrounded by farms. But when the railways were built in the 1840s and 1870s, it became much easier for people to travel from Tottenham to central London. This caused Tottenham to grow into a busy residential and industrial area.
In 1877, Birkbeck Hill retired, and the Hill family's connection with the school ended. The school closed in 1891. The Tottenham Council then bought the house and its land. The grounds opened as Bruce Castle Park in June 1892, becoming Tottenham's first public park. The house itself opened as Bruce Castle Museum in 1906.
Bruce Castle Today
Today, Bruce Castle is a museum and also holds the historical records for the London Borough of Haringey. It has exhibits about the past, present, and future of Haringey, as well as special displays on the area's history. You can also find an exhibition about Rowland Hill and the history of postal services, a collection of old photographs, and historical documents about the area.
In 1949, Bruce Castle was given a special status as a Grade I listed building, meaning it's a very important historical site. The round tower also received this status. In 2006, archaeologists dug in the grounds and found the foundations of an even older building.
In 2012, a large sculpture of a lion made from scaffolding was built on the front lawn of the museum. This artwork was part of the cultural events for the 2012 Olympics and honored both the traditional lion statues found at old country homes and the symbol of Robert the Bruce.
See also
In Spanish: Castillo de Bruce para niños
