Island Life Magazine Ltd April/May 2015 | Page 21

Norris
Castle
Guest writer Mark Fox continues
with his series looking at
different places of historical
interest on the Island
This issue he examines
Norris Castle in East Cowes
Picture supplied by ©Panerai by Guido Cantini

N

orris Castle dominates the
eastern sea approach to Cowes.
Sitting high above the Solent it
provides an instantly recognisable and
formidable landmark, visible from miles
around. A landmark for sailors, the sight
of which always warms the heart of those
who have been away from home for a
long time.
The experienced sailor will know too
that the tides ebbing and flowing around
the headland on which the castle sits are
often fast and dangerous. A great place
to live, a difficult place to sail near, a poor
place to swim from.
The castle also provides one of the
most picturesque and romantic images
of anywhere on either side of the Solent
shore. Visited by Kings and Queens and
considered by Queen Victoria for her
Island home, it evokes a palpable sense
of the ancient and historic.
It is, however, not quite all that it
appears. Although presented as a
military stronghold, a steely and rugged
fortification, the castle is in fact an

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illusion. Built in the style of, rather than
actually as, a castle. Appearing to be on
the grand and dominant scale the castle
in fact is actually smaller than it appears
– a sort of reverse Tardis. Indeed at times
some scenes for Dr Who were actually
filmed at and around the castle. Norris
castle was built in 1790 for Lord Henry
Seymour, a leading politician of his day.
Known as an eccentric in his own lifetime
he spent his retirement improving the
castle he had built. There is a memorial
to him at nearby St. Mildred’s Church.
The castle is built on the site of an

earlier and real castle - East Cowes castle.
It is in the Norman style, and designed
by James Wyatt, famous for a vast range
of work from Oxford University, and the
House of Lords, to numerous churches
and other public buildings.
Wyatt also organised the surrounding
farmland and ensured that the farm
buildings serving the estate were also
built in the same style as the castle,
making the whole a very pleasing and
attractive home.
Having made some visits with her
mother when a Princess, Queen Victoria
was so enamoured with the setting and
the situation that she famously bought
the neighbouring Osborne estate and
made it her home for the rest of her long
life. She continued to lodge her mother,
the Duchess of Kent at the castle, it being
considered a suitable and satisfactory
distance from the main house.
At various times in its history the castle
has been open to the public, but is not
currently so.

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