Ince Castle

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Ince Castle is three miles from Saltash, Cornwall, England. It is not a castle in the conventional sense, but a manor house. It was built in 1642, at the start of the English Civil War and was captured in 1646. It consists of 4 three storey towers with walls 1.2 metres thick. The house and estate were sold in the 1850s and let as a farm but it became increasingly run down and covered in ivy by the 20th century. It burnt down in 1988 but it has now been rebuilt.

Henry Killigrew, the Royalist MP for West Looe, who built the first house in about 1642, kept four wives, one in each tower, each unknown to the others.

The owner from 1922 to 1937 was Mr H.R. Somerset, whose yacht was a winner of the Fastnet Race and was kept in the boathouse at Ince Castle.

In 1960 the house was bought by Patricia, Viscountess Boyd, (daughter of Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh), wife of the former Colonial Secretary, Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton.

About this time, the lower floor French windows were installed to bring more light into the house. The service wing was extended. A disastrous fire in 1988 was followed by rebuilding of the roof and a second kitchen was added. The present owners, Simon Lennox-Boyd, 2nd Viscount Boyd of Merton and his wife, Alice, moved in in 1994. The house and gardens are only occasionally open to the public.