Lowther Castle

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Lowther Castle circa 1880.

Lowther Hall in the early 18th century.

Lowther Castle is a country house in the historic county of Westmorland which now forms part of the modern county of Cumbria in northern England. It has belonged to the Lowther family, latterly the Earls of Lonsdale, since the Middle Ages.

In the late 17th century John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale rebuilt the family home, then known as Lowther Hall, on a grand scale. The current building is a castellated mansion which was built by Robert Smirke between 1806 and 1814, and it was only at that time that Lowther was designated a "castle". The family fortune was undermined by the extravagence of the 5th Earl of Lonsdale, a famous socialite, and the castle was closed in 1937. During the Second World War, it was used by a tank regiment. Its contents were removed in the late 1940s and the roof was removed in 1957. The shell is still owned by the Lowther Estate Trust.

In 2000 the Lowther Estate and English Heritage jointly commissioned a team of historians, landscapers, architects and engineers to review the status of the castle and its grounds, and they produced the Lowther Castle & Garden Conservation Plan. In 2005 the estate formed an informal partnership with the Northwest Development Agency, English Heritage, Cumbria Vision and the Royal Horticultural Society to regenerate the site. The objectives are to consolidate the ruin, restore the 50 acre garden and open the site to the public. Craig Hamilton RIBA has been appointed as architect.