Croft Castle

[1] It was the home of Sir John de Croft who married Janet, one of Owain Glyndŵr's daughters.

In the 15th century, the Croft family adopted the Welsh Wyvern crest, a wounded black dragon, seen as an allusion to their Glyndwr heritage.

[2] The Croft family suffered financially following the South Sea Bubble[2] and in 1746, sold the estate to Richard Knight (1693–1765).

[8] The castle had undergone further alterations in 1913 to the designs of the architect Walter Sarel (1863–1941) who removed the central section of the eighteenth-century Gothic entrance front replacing it with a battlemented porch and mullioned bay window above; the entrance hall was lined with oak panelling.

[10] Members of the Croft family include: The present building dates from the 1660s during the time when Herbert Croft was Bishop of Hereford, replacing an earlier house some thirty yards to the west, which was excavated by Herefordshire County Archaeologist Prof. Keith Ray and volunteers in 2002.

The manor house is a quadrangular stone structure around a central courtyard with round corner towers, and a square bay on the north elevation.

[17][18] Three estate buildings also have Grade II listings, the Gothic Pumphouse,[19] Croft Lodge,[20] and Cock Gate Cottage.

The Fishpool Valley was landscaped in the eighteenth century[24] with descending ponds, a grotto, a Gothic pumphouse, an ice house and a lime kiln, and has undergone major restoration to bring it back to its scenic origins.

[26] and the fine tomb for Sir Richard and Eleanor Croft bears a resemblance to that of Henry VII in Westminster Abbey.

The site is in the civil parish of Croft and Yarpole, 5 miles (8.0 km) north-west of Leominster, in Herefordshire, England.

A sitting room decorated with panels painted with a 3D effect, containing a few pieces of furniture and a portrait by Thomas Gainsborough hanging over the fireplace.
The Blue Room at Croft Castle