brideshead visited: location at representation at castle howard

By Tia Byer

On 22nd November, Drs Adam Stock and Adam Smith accompanied third-year English Literature students taking the Twentieth-Century Literature module on a trip to Castle Howard. The trip functioned as a supplement to our week 7 text; Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited.

This novel is narrated retrospectively during the rapidly disappearing world of privilege caused by WWII and explores the nostalgia for the age of English aristocracy. Waugh drew inspiration from Castle Howard for his fictional setting. Despite the extensive and rather impressive history of the occupying Howard family, it was difficult – as a Brideshead fan -to view the house as anything other than synonymous with Waugh’s iconic fictional setting. Indeed, discovering the distinction between that Castle Howard’s distinctive Baroque-style architecture, complete with a crowning central dome, and the shinning “dome and columns of an old house” of Waugh’s text, was the mission of the day.

"I have been here before": Encountering the real-life Brideshead.
“I have been here before”: Encountering the real-life Brideshead.

Once we arrived, we embarked on a tour of the gardens. It was here that our guide Stephen set out to uncover the relationship between Waugh’s novel, Castle Howard, and the subsequent 1981 television adaptation and the 2005 remake feature film, both of which used the site as a filming location.

First, we visited the driveway, where Charles Ryder and Sebastian Flyte famously drove past “wrought-iron gates and twin, classical lodges on a village green”. This is the same fictional drive where Cordelia Flyte and Charles walk as they discuss Sebastian’s decline into morbid alcoholism. We saw the contrasting house entrances used by each production as well as the Temple of Four Winds. Located at the bottom of the estate, this temple lodge features in both adaptations as the setting for the two main characters’ days of hedonistic indulgences at Brideshead. My favourite location was the Atlas fountain. Made famous in the 1981 adaptation for the scene in which Jeremy Irons bathes his feet in, the fountain is also a pinnacle setting in the novel.

There was something about Castle Howard that made me channel my inner Charles Ryder in my appreciation of the aesthetics of the surrounding landscape. The house is located in some impressive and immense grounds. Beyond the house stands the Howardian Hills, and leading down from the fountain lay a lake. Looking down towards the lake I could quite easily picture Charles and Sebastian frolicking around, champagne in hand. Waugh’s literary legacy pervaded the atmosphere at Castle Howard. Even our tour guide looked very Brideshead-esque in his suede coat, velvet trousers and flap cap.

Potentially the best nursery in England.
Potentially the best nursery in England.

Indoors, nostalgia for a lost age of ancestral estates and decadence was emphasised through the festive spectacular that is Castle’s Howards annual Christmas experience. Banisters were lined with foliage and fairy lights, hallways were lit with candles, Christmas tree after Christmas tree featured in each room, and the nursery! The nursery was the nursery of all nurseries. Presents, rocking horses and decorations galore filled the room. It was a simply darling display of festive celebration. The awe-inspiring twenty-five-foot tree in the Greet Hall was the most impressive piece of decoration. It was no surprise that Christmas at Brideshead was by no means half-done!

We ended our visit with a trip to the tearoom. Tea and scones were the order of the day, and boy were they delicious! Even the scones were somewhat fancier at Castle Howard. Served on gold-rimmed china plates and sprinkled with crystallised sugar, these were scones fit for Lady Marchmain herself!

Afternoon tea fit for a lady!
Afternoon tea fit for a lady!

All in all, our visit to Castle Howard proved an exciting excursion. Though we didn’t encounter Nanny Hawkins hiding away in the attic, and I was slightly disappointed that there were no Aloysius teddy-bears for sale in the gift shop, Brideshead was truly brought to life by the staff at Castle Howard. Charles Rider was right; it certainly was “an aesthetic education to [visit] within those walls”.