Castle Drogo

The castle was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens between 1911 and 1930 for Julius Drewe, founder of the Home and Colonial Stores; Drewe died a year after it was finished. Christopher Hussey wrote: ‘the ultimate justification of Drogo is that it does not pretend to be a castle. It is a castle, as a castle is built, of granite, on a mountain, in the twentieth century’. Castle Drogo was given to the National Trust in 1974. The formal garden surrounding the castle was also designed by Lutyens with George Dillistone’s assistance and includes herbaceous borders and a rose garden; the woodland garden contains several species of rhododendron and magnolias. The castle has recently undergone major restoration work.