Tong Castle

About

Tong Castle was a very large mostly Gothic country house in Shropshire whose site is between Wolverhampton and Telford, set within a park landscaped by Capability Brown, on the site of a medieval castle of the same name. The original castle was built in the 12th century. During the Civil War it was defended for the King by William Careless, and afterwards by George Mainwaring.

The original structure was demolished in 1765 after the estate had been purchased from the Duke of Kingston by George Durant who built the house illustrated. The building has been described both as an "architectural mongrel" and more flatteringly as "the first real gothic building in Shropshire". While at first glance there appear some anomalies of design, such as the ogee domes which, though Gothic in shape, are more redolent of the English Renaissance style, the house was actually in the Strawberry Hill Gothic style popularised by Horace Walpole.

George Durant bought the estate at Tong in 1764 and commissioned Lancelot "Capability" Brown to provide plans for rebuilding the castle and to improve the landscape around the castle in 1765. Brown's account book shows a charge to Durant in 1765 for "Various Plans for...