A historic castle in Devon has fallen victim to the British weather after Storm Gerrit brought down one of its 1,000 year old turrets. Bickleigh Castle, which dates back to the 11th century, has had part of its structure partially collapse following the high winds and rainfall this weekend.
Owners of the castle, Robbie and Sarah Hay, who have lived with their three dogs in the Grade I listed building for 22-years, have talked of their shock of seeing a pile of rubble, including a door, flagpole and bricks, in the front garden, following the slippage on Saturday, December 30.
The owners are currently waiting to hear from their insurance company to start the process of clearing and repairing the damage.
The gatehouse is a three-storey, single-depth plan stone structure with a pure slate roof surmounted by turrets. A central carriage archway leads into a courtyard.
The building was substantially altered in the 15th century by the Courtenay family, and restored in the 1920s and 1930s during the ownerships of Mr Francis Harper and Lt Col Jasper Henson.
Robbie explained the moment they found out the left-hand turret, known as the south-tower, had partially collapsed.
“We heard a slight rumble,” he told DevonLive. “But we were not made aware of the collapse until one of our staff members told us at around 5pm.
“We’ve had some rather peculiar weather to say the least, strong winds and rain, and over the weekend it was particularly noticeable.”
When the collapse took place, there was a yellow warning for wind speeds of up to 79mph. In nearby Tipton-St-John, villagers were subjected to a mini-tornado, which split an 150-year old tree in half.
“We suspect there was a sudden strong gust and variations in wind which has led to this,” Robbie added.
“To a lesser extent, the rain has not helped. The climate has been mild, which has expanded the lime-mortar, which the building is not used to. Unlike cement, the stones breath, expand and contract and the joint they’re sitting on is flexible, hence the reason the old buildings can last so long, but in this instance, we have a situation where the weather is playing truant with us, and has caused a slippage on the front of the castle in storm conditions.
Sarah added: “It’s been there 1,000 years, it’s quite shocking to see what’s happened. Fortunately, nobody was in the garden when it happened.”
She added that business will continue to thrive, and the collapse will not affect weddings, tours, staycations, and events.
She added: “We’re not going to stop taking bookings, we’re planning a busy summer and looking forward to welcoming budding brides and grooms, conferences, and house parties from all over the world.
“We’re still open for vacations, viewings and bookings and looking forward to opening to the public from April for tours and high tea.
“We have found that house parties and weddings have taken off since Covid and continue to be popular.
“We will move on from this, get the rubble removed as quickly as we can, but in the meantime, we are operating as normal.”
