Castle Carr Mansion at the head of Luddenden Dene was built by Captain Joseph Priestley Edwards of Fixby in 1859 and was designed as a pseudo-Norman castle, of Fixby, who bought the land in 1852.
Its landscaped gardens included a spectacular water garden with cascades, viewing galleries and a central fountain capable of reaching 100ft, one of the highest in Europe when it was built.
Joseph Edwards died in 1868 before the castle was completed. His son finished the building work in 1871. In 1962 the building was demolished after an auction of its structure and adornments, today only a few sections remain.
The land and what is left of the features, have been taken over by the Water Board.
And my favourite bit:
"Access to the site is restricted and is very difficult to get too as there are no pulic roads or footpaths leading to it. Also the risk of the farmer setting his dogs on you is a big on, as many people have been threatened".
The above quote was NO JOKE. We had to walk bloody miles across boggy moorland to get to this place! It was one hell of a mooch to say the least but worth every minute of it to see this place and it's famous 'Water Gardens' which are nothing short of spectacular.
Part I - Reservoir & Water Gardens
The journey was epic, having looked at some nearby shafts, with Tunnels leading from Hebden Bridge across to Halifax we then wandered over to the nearby reservoir to have a look at some more tunnels & pumping stations that make up this whole system across two valleys.
After having 'splored the reservoir we then headed onto our final destination 'Castle Carr'.
Access began by utilising one of the underground tunnel systems to pass underneath the reservoir and out the other side to reach the famous 'Water Gardens' that form part of the Castles huge estate.
There were some great features here at the other side of the resi, including a pumping house for the gardens fountains, another outfall from a tunnel the otherside of the earlier reservoir, a nice waterfall and some brick tunnels leading down into the 'Water Garden' itself below.
After another short mooch we arrived at the 'Water Garden' before I could get my rucksack off, Stepping Lightly had already climbed down and was snapping away LOL. "Get down here he said, it's breathtaking" before he finished explaining I was down, and yes this place is the most spectacular water feature I have ever seen!
(See Part II) For the remainder of the journey
Journey start
Concrete infall that led us into the tunnel that allowed us 'easier' access underneath the resi to the 'Water Garden'
RCP - Our route underneath the resi
Outfall
Bottom reservoir
Waterfalls
Pumping station
(Enter The 'Water Garden')
Fountain
Overflow
Waterfalls
'Water Garden'
About 30 minutes later we carried on our final leg of the journey over to the Castle which was even more of a trek. "I swear I'm gonna be aching real bad after all this excercise tomorrow" LOL. Anyway a quick swill of Lucazade Sport and my energy levels are back up.....
As we approach the Castle we are now in full view of the neighbouring land owner who apparently doesn't take to kindly to 'Trespassers' and judging by the amount of 'Spent' shotgun cartridges the above facts of "setting his dogs" and "people being threatened" sprung to mind (GULP).
"Shall we be stealthy and get a few shots and leave, or should we be blase and just wander about for a while in full view" says Stepping Lightly...MMM "Fuck It" we both agreed wev'e come this far, "who cares if this guy comes over we will have to worry about that at the time".
No sooner had we agreed, Stepping Lightly spotted a Land Rover driving straight towards us, bollox we hadn't even properly 'splored the Castle yet, FUCK!
Bizzarely enough we wandered around like N00bz without a care in the world and wasn't even spotted by this geezer? or if he did he just fed the livestock and fooked off back towards the farm.... Happy Days.
The Castle is in a bad way, although what remains of it is interesting for sure, and well worth the miles of walking to get here. I even managed to climb the old original spiral staircase in the tower (just) and take a few shots of the delapidated upper section and a couple looking back down before we finally made a move.
As I write this Thread I'm bolloxed and aching like hell from the amount of walking....But I have to say well worth it and one hell of a day with the amount of stuff we looked at even before and after the Castle; (definately the Highlight of the day), with the Lowlight being later on myself and Stepping Lightly chasing his mobile phone up some serious sewer
'Externals'
Stone shield from above original entrance
Cellars
Remains of spiral staircase down to cellars
'Internals'
Gargoyle
Spiral staircase to upper level
View from the top
Looking down...
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