The medieval pele tower was enlarged in 17th century by the 1st Viscount, Sir John Lowther, lawyer, MP for Westmorland and somewhat surprisingly, a vegetarian. Sir John also laid out the gardens which can be seen in an engraving by Knyff and Kip c1700. They included the Great Yew Avenue, Fountain Yard and Knot Gardens.

Lowther was largely destroyed by fire in 1718 and although several plans for the rebuilding of the house were commissioned, they were not executed.

‘Capability’ Brown visited Lowther twice – in 1763 and 1771 – but his ideas were also not implemented.

It was not until 1806 that the house was finally rebuilt as a Gothic Castle, to a design by Cumbrian architect, Sir Robert Smirke for the 1st Earl of Lonsdale. This was Smirke’s first major commission – he would later design the British Museum.

Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale succeeded his brother to the title in 1882. Known as the Yellow Earl because of his love for the colour, he inherited several estates as well as the profitable Cumberland coalmines. He was the founder and first president of the Automobile Association (branded yellow), loved hunting and was director of Arsenal Football Club.

The Yellow Earl commissioned Thomas Mawson amongst others to update the gardens. At its heyday, there were around twenty pleasure gardens decorated with fountains and pavilions.

However the Earl’s extravagant lifestyle ruined the estate. By 1937, the castle and gardens were abandoned and in 1942 the army requisitioned the site for testing a top secret anti-tank weapon and the terraces disappeared under tons of concrete. After the Yellow Earl’s death in 1944, his brother Lancelot, the 6th Earl, was forced to sell the contents of the Castle.

In 1956-7, the Castle was gutted with just the facade and outer walls left while the gardens were filled with chicken sheds, a pig farm and a spruce plantation.

It was rescued by a charitable trust in 2008 who apppointed among others, the landscape architect and historian Dominic Cole. Cole suggested uncovering the bones of the 17th century garden to create a new garden designed by Dan Pearson.