England’s invisible castle, this little-known ‘time capsule’ was hauled blinking into the glare of 21st-century publicity during 17 days at the Royal Courts of Justice in 2003. Seat of the Parkers, Earls of Macclesfield since acquisition in 1716, Shirburn was historically inaccessible, a tradition the 9th (and current) Earl is said to have embraced with some alacrity upon accession in 1993, as many an incautious rambler¹ and well-meaning enquirer² would discover.
Being tested at the High Court that Summer was the assumption that the right to live at Shirburn came with the Earldom. Dad dies, I’m the king of the castle – straightforward enough, no? Sadly, for the Earl, for the Parker family and indeed for British heritage, it proved to be anything but.
In any debate about forms of inheritance, advocates of primogeniture could cite the plight of Shirburn as Exhibit A. For a fateful tax-based decision by the 7th Earl in 1922 making the castle & lands the property of a family-owned company, Beechwood Estates, was the precursor to calamitous schism.
Decades of entrenchment between the senior and cadet branches of the Parker family (still) dotted about the 3,000-acre estate would lead to that date before M’Lud (and doubtless many a frosty encounter on Watlington high street). Cutting to the upshot, given two years to quit the castle, the Earl lost. Or did he?
“I recognise my decision will..break the historic link between Shirburn Castle and its contents,” intoned Mr. Justice Lewison giving judgement, crucially alluding to another legacy of the 7th Earl, namely to covenant the Castle’s entire contents to Richard Parker at the time of the latter’s first marriage in 1967. Now with an impending storage crisis, the 9th Earl called in the valuers who were stunned at what they found.
“The excitement of the Macclesfield Library lies not only in the splendour of its holdings but also that it has never been accessible or much known about.” This blog simply can’t do justice to the fabulousness and stratospheric importance of the Shirburn library, ‘an intellectual time-capsule’ – read about it in this paper by Sotheby’s expert Paul Quarrie who catalogued the sales. There have been twelve so far (and may be more) yielding in excess of £22million and peaking in the £1.6m paid for a “stunning” 14th-century illustrated book christened the Macclesfield Psalter [above].
Separately, a cache of Isaac Newton’s papers have been sold to Cambridge University for £6.37m and only last December a barely-known Stubbs masterpiece netted the 68-year-old peer another £9m (its auction featuring, sans back story, in this month’s BBC documentary This Green and Pleasant Land: The Story of English Landscape Painting).
Long caught in the middle and with all too apparent signs of a century’s neglect, is the unoccupied castle itself ever likely to benefit from this astounding (and ongoing) windfall? If the Earl’s last public utterance on the matter still stands, no chance.³ Some excellent aerial footage of the building and estate is available here but for the forseeable future it would seem the wider world’s view of Shirburn is likely to remain much as it ever has:
[Update: Remarkable interior & exterior photo gallery here]
¹ “I have sole rights and sole enjoyment. Why should I give that up?” The Independent 5/11/95.
² ‘Permission to inspect the buildings [was] strictly forbidden’ ‘John Nash. A Complete Catalogue’ by Michael Mansbridge, Phaidon, 1991.
³ ‘Who’s laughing now’ Evening Standard 18/8/04.
Another excellent post. Thanks.
And the Parkers have no one to blame except themselves. Instead of squabbling over such petty things, why couldn’t they have just gone ahead and given the Earl a full-repairing lease? He could then have sold some of the extremely valuable contents and used the proceeds to preserve the castle for future generations.
In some ways the Parkers remind me of the other noble families described in Marcus Scriven’s book ‘Splendour and Squalor’, all of whom committed unnecessary acts of self-destruction which led to their families’ economic collapse.
Wasn’t always so private – in the early nineties, the IT department of the company I worked for organized an “event” at Shirburn Castle which I seem to remember included a visit to some of the rooms that they were prepared to open to members of the paying public.
Thanks for that, Stephen, any info & awareness always welcome. Yes, some of the places featured here, though not seasonally open to visitors, are open to offers, so to speak, even small groups of interested bods on a free one-off basis. And the upcoming annual Heritage Open Days programme is another thing to keep an eye on, some ‘rarities’ pop up there (I have a couple firmly in my sights!): http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/
My 80 year old grand mother Mrs Violet Halnan worked here with my mum and a german lady called Helgar when Lord and Lady Thomas Parker where here. My Nan has fond memories of Lady Valerie Park and I am looking forward to showing her this web site.
Sorry that should read My nan has fond memories of Lady Valerie Parker.
Many thanks for commenting, Sarah – any reminiscences, pics or anything about life & times at Shirburn your family might have, do feel free to share them here. I’m sure I wouldn’t be the only one interested in knowing more…
my family worked for the parkers both nan in the castleand grandad as a kitchen gardener before and after the first war how about beeing pregnant 1914 husband at war so the parkers remove you from your job and your home lovely people i donot think so r steptoe
Good post. I’m facing some of these issues as well..
My Dad worked for Lord Thomas Parker when the present earl was a boy. we went to the Castle on several occasions. We lived at Model Farm and lived in the house where The Hon David Parker now lives his original house having been destroyed by fire. The Parkers were always good to us and my sister bought the old countesses bike for £10 which she earned as a school girl working for Lady Parker cleaning on a Saturday
I’ve just come across this page because I was curious about the location used for an episode of Inspector Morse. The episode is called ‘Happy Families’ (about a rich, feuding family!) and was first broadcast in 1992, so was presumably filmed in 1991, and Shirburn Castle features throughout as the main location, both exteriors and interiors (in one scene, the Stubbs that was sold at auction can be seen on the wall). If you are interested in seeing what the house looked like before the contents were flogged off, it’s worth tracking the episode down.
Many thanks – I think I have seen that one but long time ago, will keep an eye on the ITV3 schedule which seems to have Morse and it’s ilk on rotation! BTW, anyone interested to know more about the castle and the whole Shirburn saga should check out the High Court judgement linked to, crammed with detail. Thanks again..
The episode is on YouTube (in ten parts!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47ZqtUXtOtk
I drive in front of that castle every day and have never suspected it was ever there! The sign points to an old church but nothing else. Amazing.
I was shopping at a thrift store today and saw a old framed painting of the SHIRBURN CASTLE before buildings were added to the right side of the Castle.. Very interesting history of the castle.
Would love that picture live on Model Farm when I was a child
My Grandparents were gamekeepers at the Castle in the late 1930`s onwards My mother was born there and 2 of her siblings are buried at the church. I would love to know where the old gamekeepers cottage was located
My Grandfather was shepherd on Model Farm in the 50s, I used to stay with my grandparents during school holidays and have lovely memories of those times. Lady Valerie was lovely and sometimes gave us a lift to Waltlington in her Ford Consul.
My father was farm manager from 1953 to 1958 he wAs Ben Edwards who was your grandfather ?
I really wish it were possible to visit the castle. I’m a direct descendant of the Chamberlains who were born in the castle and lived there back in the 1400’s and 1500’s.
I too am a decendant of the Chamberlain’s I am just looking into my lineage and Sir Edward Chamberlain is my 14th times Great Grandfather
Sir Edward is my 11x Great Grandfather.
I am descendant and would also love to visit the castle when next in England. My mother was a Hambly Parker, her Dads Father Thomas Parker immigrated to Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Bill Braine
Also with my interest piqued by the castle as featured in the “Inspector Morse” episode mentioned above, which I have just watched for the first time, I have done some digging and used the result to extend the current Wikipedia article on the castle, current version now available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirburn_Castle. Hope this is of interest (and very happy to be corrected or extended further on any particular aspects). Cheers – Tony Rees, Australia
Also, check out https://www.locationworks.com/library.php?ref=3808 for another fine set of photographs, currently unidentified to location (perhaps the owners prefer it that way…)
I visited the castle to attend a christening in the 1970’s. I was then an undergraduate at Oxford, and I was taken there as the girlfriend of another undergraduate who was a guest ( I can’t remember his connection).
While I was there, talking to the grandfather of the child, he told me that they ‘had a lot of old papers in the library, a lot of stuff from Isaac Newton ‘ (sic). I think he said that Newton been a friend / protege of a previous owner. He suggested to me that I might like to ‘have a look at them’, because I was reading English, and so I might be interested. I’m afraid that I didn’t follow it up, mainly because I thought of Newton as a mathematician, and I was more poetical in my interests. If I’d known about Newton’s mystical tendencies, I might have tried to examine them once I’d started my second degree and was being taught palaeography.
I remember the castle as being quite gloomy and chilly, but there didn’t seem to be any shortage of money!
I’ve only just discovered your site, it came up as I was looking for some news about The Barringtons, where I lived for some years in the 1990’s. That was a bizarre place, believe me. Beautiful but bitter.
Researching my Croxford Family History, In the 1921 Census, I discovered that George William Croxford, his wife, Edith Annie Croxford and their son Sidney George Croxford and two Step-Sons, John Richard Bond and Henry (Harry) Charles Bond, all lived at 2 Blenchin Road, Shirburn. George William Croxford (my Grandfather) Occupation: Blacksmith, was employed by The Earl of Macclesfield.
What a fabulous story. I grew up in that area and it’s extraordinary that no one in Watlington ever mentioned Shirburn. I must have driven past it a thousand times. There’s a secret speed camera there too! It’s quite a deprived area – or was – they could do with a decent castle to provide a focus for the community! Castles like that are really not meant for one family but to serve and protect their local communities. That’s the mistake these families make; they are not serving. How sad that the library was sold. I’d love to know how they became so withdrawn. Was it to do with the Reformation? Were they recusants?