FACT or FICTION

75 years since the publication of Brideshead Revisited, we tour the ‘real’ Brideshead, and stop off at other locations thought to have inspired the most famous homes in literature.

- ELEANOR DOUGHTY

The tale of Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh’s iconic novel about the English aristocracy, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, is one as old as time. Middle-class boy meets charming aristocrat, falls in love… to say any more would spoil it. But Brideshead is more than just a story about Charles Ryder. It is a story of a house, Brideshead Castle.

Today, Brideshead is best associated with one house: Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, home of the Howard family for over 300 years. Built by Sir John Vanbrugh, it took over a century to complete. In 1978 television production company Granada asked to film an adaptation of Waugh’s novel at the house, for Castle Howard was the closest house they could find to Brideshead.

A Baroque house was needed, and few had the necessary dome, says Dr Christopher Ridgway, curator at Castle Howard. “That ruled Castle Howard in.” Waugh had visited the house in 1937, but it wasn’t until publication of his friend Christopher Sykes’ biography in 1976 that the connection was made. “I fancy that a strong contribution was made by Castle Howard,” wrote Sykes. And so Castle Howard became Brideshead for an 11-episode series in 1981. For so many of the 220,000 people that visit Castle Howard every year, Brideshead is real.