Pennsylvania Castle sitting above Church Ope Cove very close to Rufus Castle and the old church ruins (as seen elsewhere on this blog) was built in the late 1700's by John Penn, who was the grandson of the founder of the state of "Pennsylvania" in America.
The Castle was finished by 1800 and King George III enjoyed his wedding anniversary here, no surprise as it was built on land given to Penn by King George III.
The original gift of land included the church ruins and Rufus castle which was promptly enclosed, not pleasing the locals by any stretch of the imagination.
More recently it has turned into a private residence again after being a hotel through my own childhood, indeed members of my family had wedding receptions, and anniversary receptions there.
Many of us as children dreamed of owning that as a home!
It has since being turned into a private home had an indoor swimming pool added in the form of an extension which has been made sympathetically to suit the general look of the castle, all columns and stonework with that Romanesque look to it.
Apparently it's also linked to the Penn family and Penn House in Amersham. My grandmother worked for the family and in both house pre-WWII when she was only just 14. At the beginning of the war she worked there as a cook. Lots of funny memories of their great dane - he once stole a whole joint of meat from the kitchen table! Whoops!
ReplyDeleteAmersham?
ReplyDeleteWhere is that? sorry.
Interesting you have a family link to that ;o)
Amersham is in Buckinghamshire! Apparently.
ReplyDeleteDuring the war she was moved to Penn House in Amersham where it was transferred to a boys school. Boys from a school in Swanage were evacuated there. They weren't allowed any contact with their parents (no letters, nothing) for at least 6 weeks. Poor lads.
ReplyDeletehttp://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/15/05/150529_3baf6fdc.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/150529&usg=__PciiDY0z1zWaFPObsbYA5SER5vM=&h=480&w=640&sz=170&hl=en&start=9&tbnid=dRlYb3IbWgIEbM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522penn%2Bhouse%2522%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den
ReplyDeleteLink to photos of Penn House grounds.
Interesting... thanks for that, I had heard of Amersham, just unsure where I'd heard it.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have known where it was either Rob! lol
ReplyDelete