Castle Drogo

Castle Drogo is a granite country house made to look like a medieval stronghold, perched above the wooded Teign Gorge near Drewsteignton. Sir Edwin Lutyens designed it for Julius Drewe, and the National Trust calls it the last castle built in England. From outside, the towers and granite blocks sell the castle idea; inside, you are visiting an early twentieth-century family home rather than a medieval keep.

Drewe wanted an ancestral seat and believed his family descended from the Norman baron Drogo de Teign, a name linked with nearby Drewsteignton. That lineage was uncertain, but the castle itself is real enough: work began in 1911, the family moved in for Christmas 1926, and the reduced design was completed in 1930. Modern conveniences were part of the plan from the start, including electricity and lifts; a hydroelectric turbine on the River Teign once generated power for the house.

Inside, look beyond the stone shell for the domestic details and the Drewe family story. The rooms show a family home with collections and modern features, not a furnished medieval fortress. Outside, the formal garden extends the visit: terraces lead to a sunken rose garden and Chapel Garden, while a circular lawn framed by yews opens a long view down the slope. The small Bunty House, modeled on a 1930s suburban home, was built as a playhouse for the youngest Drewe child.

The garden changes with the season. Wisteria has a short spring flowering, and the rose beds usually peak in June; borders change from spring into autumn. For a garden photo, stand at the top of the granite steps by the circular lawn and frame the long axis below you. It gives the terraces a clear beginning-to-end shape.

Castle Drogo is also the start and finish of a proper landscape walk. The classic circuit takes the Hunters Path high above the River Teign, then drops into woodland and follows the river back to the castle. The view shifts from open gorge and river below to enclosed, tree-covered paths, so leave space for the walk instead of treating the castle as a quick doorway stop. Estate paths also join the Two Moors Way and the Dartmoor Way.

A separate gentle walk leads down to the castle's hydro turbine, a striking link between the gorge and Lutyens' modern household. Built over a century ago, it supplied electricity to the house. The castle sits high above the river, so the gorge paths mean a real descent and a climb back; the best visit mixes rooms, garden and outside rather than rushing all three.

There is a visitor car park, but spaces are limited and the castle is about 400 yards away along a sloping route. The approach lanes are narrow with tight corners, so large vehicles can be awkward; bus 173 stops at the bottom of the drive, leaving an 800-yard uphill walk. A buggy shuttle is usually available when the house is open. Eight EV charging points serve the main car park. Access is mixed: tarmac and gravel paths provide step-free routes around parts of the site, and the castle entrance has a ramp, but paths can be steep. Beyond the Entrance Hall and Library, most rooms involve stairs, largely without handrails; wheelchairs and a Tramper can be hired.

The coffee shop serves hot and cold drinks, light lunches, fresh bakes and cream teas. A small second-hand bookshop sits inside the café, with a separate visitor shop nearby. Dogs on leads are welcome on the grounds, except in the café, circular lawn and castle. I would make the garden and river valley part of the plan, not just stop for the façade.