GUICHARDO'S FOLLYA Quick TourThe Old Garrison Quarters of Marshmount Castle as Restored by Guichardo MarshmountDescription of the HouseThere are six floors and a penthouse structure connected by a single spiral staircase, which rises above the top storey to form a watchtower of sorts (the height from the courtyard to the top of the watchtower is approximately 86 feet.) The building is faced with Cotswold Stone, with interior panelling and joist beams all in English oak, and is situated on the remains of a medieval tower and part of the original gatehouse within Marshmount Castle near Fenton-on-the-Marsh in Central Wotshire. Main construction was undertaken from 1893 to 1912 from plans devised by Guichardo Marshmount (in part from an original design by Sir Edwin Lutyens). An earlier house dating from the Regency period occupied this site prior to the conversion, and its shell formed the main structure behind the medieval tower and curtain wall (the original sitting room survives as the present dining room). Exterior: From the courtyard, the most prominent features are the mullioned window set at an angle on the left side, and the entrance porch. The window is repeated on every floor and has two mullions but no transoms; they alternate between flat and arched heads. The entrance porch provides a lobby/shelter for the front door. A small chamber above is a 'breakfast nook', and the top is a parapet platform accessible from the sitting room. Over the door there is a carved basilisk that was acquired by Guichardo Marshmount in Transylvania. To the right is the entrance to the service wing, which occupies part of the castle gatehouse. The west side faces the ruins of the medieval kitchen area. It is a flat wall with a single window in the center from the second storey on up [American third floor], and a small turret at the top. From the outside of the inner castle one can only view the house from the outer ward on the east (because of the marsh, the north side is inaccessible, where it rises directly from the 12-22-ft high granite island the castle is built on). A large square buttress containing small rooms above the first floor stands out from this side, also a rather bulky chimney (which serves all the fireplaces). Three sides of an octagon project into the outer ward from the east wall of the castle; this was an original medieval flanking tower from the 14th century, but the upper portions (above the third floor) were constructed when the house was. Its interior contains the exhibit 'Rotundas', which are the building's most distinguishing feature. Two pinnacles crown the outer corners (one contains a bell, the other sports a weathercock). The domed roof in the center is the observatory. Note the 'minaret' beside the tower; this is the interior spiral stair, continued up to form an observation post. The glass roof of the main building covers the conservatory, but is barely visible from the ground.
The main entrance is in the northeast corner of the inner ward of the castle; there is also an entrance into the Servants' Hall, which was originally the guardroom of the gatehouse. A large mullioned window with internal seating faces southwest and is repeated on every floor. (The Servants' Hall is actually a pantry and wine cellar, with a stairway up to the kitchen in the wall separating it from the Great Hall.) The Armoury is a domed room containing two suits of armour and some medieval weapons. The Great Hall contains Guichardo's antique gun collection and historical relics from the castle; a large window overlooking the marsh and a fireplace are on the north side. One of the original arrow loops is in the northeast corner. This large room was probably subdivided in the Regency house to form the dining and service rooms; the kitchen would have been in whatever existed in the tower before it was gutted to make way for the Armoury and the other rotundas above it. On the ceiling are panels painted with heraldic beasts, lions, wyverns, manticores, etc., which were done by Guichardo Marshmount during an wave of 'artistic' enthusiasm; they are rather grim in a Gothic mode, although very effective.
The Dining Room was remodelled from the original Regency period sitting room and was not much changed except for the mullioned window and the Rotunda arrangement, with pastel painted walls and plaster mouldings (robin's egg blue, with white trimmings). A small 'breakfast nook' was installed over the porch. The Servery contains the Marshmount china and utensil collection, ranging from Stuart pewter, 18th century Ming and Wedgewood, to Victorian silver (not a bad accumulation, very diverse, including some valuable jade chopsticks, a classic Dresden tea service, and a cannibal ritual knife and trepan set from New Guinea.) The kitchen was the Guards' Hall in the gatehouse; a larder was built in the room over the gate passage, where the old portcullis and drawbridge were operated. [Note: the room called St. Bob's Bones is next to this, but cannot be accessed from this part of the castle.] Guichardo often had spells of reclusiveness, so this floor was seldom used. However, there were some fine dinners served here when the mood hit him (on one memorable occasion, Whistler threw up in the Servery).
The Sitting Room is essentially Victorian in
furnishings and decor, with a Pre-Raphaelite emphasis.
Guichardo passed through a William Morris stage and went
a bit overboard with his decorations--a very floral
wallpaper and some (really awful) romantic oil paintings,
a la Millais. It was once Guichardo's mother the Contessa's
parlor and was redone in the 1880's before the reconstruction.
This room, again, was very little used, and in fact still
contains unpacked shipping cartons from later expeditions
of the owner to Africa, South America, etc.* The servants
(actually, just the butler/caretaker, Thaddeus Shortling,
in Guichardo's later years) lived on the top floor of
the gatehouse range over the kitchen; apart from this room,
the rest of the gatehouse at this level is ruinous, although
the roof and parapet are intact. The rooms serve as attics;
the one over the St. Bob's Bones room was the chapel at one
time, but fell into ruin in the 17th C. and was rebuilt as a
store-room (a couple of Gothic arches and a piscina remain).
A room called the Treasury is located in the buttress on the north side of the sitting room. It once contained the Marshmount coin and stamp collections (now in a bank vault in London), as well as important family papers. Some Egyptian relics, including three sarcophagi (one still containing its original occupant) and the mummy of one of Nefertiti's cats, are in the domed room. This collection is rather haphazard in its content, and also contains some classical Greek, Roman, and Persian stuff--more of the same spills over into the Library on the floor above the Gaming Room.
The Gaming Room contains a billiard table, a dart board, a card table, a roulette wheel, and a chess table -- also a bar. It is the most Edwardian room in the house, with oak and leather and velvet predominating. Guichardo's collections of game-hunting guns and fishing gear are stored in a separate chamber. Adjoining is the trophy room, which has a stuffed bear, a wolf, several birds and fish, and a gorilla. His pride and joy, a Siberian tiger, is up in the Library. The bald eagle was a present from Theodore Roosevelt and is the only animal here not killed by Guichardo himself.
The Library is a magnificent room, with more than
a thousand books and also some nice (fake) Renaissance paintings
and statuary. (The Siberian tiger is in a diorama on the
south side next to the window.) In the Rotunda is Guichardo's
exhibit of spiders and other large tropical insects; a separate
chamber holds his butterfly and moth collection.* The Folio
Room had ancient manuscripts and examples of incunabula and
papyri (now in London). Note that the exhibit room on this floor
is not circular but was expanded into an octagonal lozenge shape.
The fifth floor has its main room subdivided into three rather small bedrooms (Guichardo was not much concerned about sleeping), with the only bathroom in the house over the Folio room in the northern buttress. What was either a washroom or WC off the spiral staircase on other floors houses a small but attractive collection of jewels and semi-precious stones (there are others in exhibit cases in the library, along with more curiosities). Each bedroom has a 'theme' in a macabre vein, painted by Guichardo in one of his whimsical moods--The King in Yellow Room (based on the Robert Chambers story), Masque of the Red Death, and The Condemned Cell (which was his own bedroom). The Rotunda holds an extensive collection of dolls, marionettes, and automata, such as a mechanical backgammon player that once belonged to the Prince Regent.
A Conservatory occupies the glass-roofed structure at the top of the building. It is now empty of all the palms, ferns, and orchids that used to reside there (well, there are some potted plants and a rose bush or two that have been put there recently). This project was never a real success, since Guichardo did not have the time or patience to take care of it properly (or hire a full-time plant caretaker). At one point, he intended to stock it with live snakes and tropical insects, but changed his mind after an unfortunate culinary experiment with a Costa Rican tree frog, which left him speechless for six months and pretty much turned him off to reptiles and amphibians. The loss of the RMS Titanic in 1912 turned Marshmount's interest
to wireless telegraphy--hence the Radio room next to the Observatory.
There is some very ancient (for this type of device) equipment
here, but reception in the swamp, miles from the sea, was never
very good. The Observatory itself was originally a study; a 6-inch
reflecting telescope was installed and the roof modified in 1910
for the express purpose of observing Halley's comet, which appeared
that year (with much apprehension on the part of the public, as is
represented in Conan Doyle's novel The Poison Belt). Guichardo provided
oxygen tanks in this room in case poison gas from the comet's tail
were to pollute the atmosphere. After his death, the telescope was
sold by his executors to pay off various outstanding debts -- he
had never finished paying for it. Future plans: Both the Castle and the Folly are closed to the public (although you can obtain access if you apply for permission in writing, and can present a reasonable case for wanting to view). Guichardo Marshmount's estate was in Chancery for several years after his disappearance (and presumed death) in Africa in 1913, and is now tied up in a Trust that only provides bare maintenance for the buildings and a resident caretaker, who lives in the outer gatehouse (Samuel Gulliverson is his name). There are plans to open the site to general admission whenever the causeway can be repaired-- again, cash is needed for this! The National Trust has been approached, but they have attached too many conditions to the guardianship. The intent of the present Marshmount executors is to keep alive the spirit of Marshmount Castle as it was during the lifetime of Guichardo, the last of that ancient family. That includes leaving the packing cases in the Sitting Room unopened and allowing children to play with the Automatons. Update December 1997: Guichardo Marshmount constructed another Folly up in Scotland before this one.It may not be as interesting, but exhibits some of the mercurial nature of this man -- in this case a combination of "Hieland Laird' and 'The Warlock of Cromarty'. Click on Upchuck Lodge for a brief description. This web page has just been published, as the Trust has new plans for it! [Nov 1998: this has now changed, since the Lodge has been sold to a major Hollywood person at a very nice price -- the money will be dedicated to the reburbishment of the Folly and the conservation at Gwernogle]  Contact Information
Marshmount Castle | Upchuck Lodge | Lord SethLast Updated:
|
