Highcliffe Castle, situated on the cliffs at Highcliffe, Dorset, was built between 1831 and 1835 by Charles Stuart, 1st Baron Stuart de Rothesay in a Romantic and Picturesque, Gothic Revival style near the site of High Cliff House, a Georgian Mansion designed for the 3rd Earl of Bute (a founder of Kew Gardens) with the gardens laid out by Capability Brown.

The Earl's fourth son, General Sir Charles Stuart sold the estate apart from the nearby smaller Bure Homage House.

All that remains of the original High Cliff are the two entrance lodges, now used as a restaurant, also some of the garden walls and features in the lands.

Educated at Eton college, in 1801 he entered the diplomatic service, serving in Vienna, St Petersburg, French-occupied Spain, and in Portugal.

After the defeat of Napoleon, Charles escorted the exiled French King Louis XVIII back to Paris and became British Ambassador there.

Early retirement from the diplomatic service meant Lord Stuart could start on the project to build a new family home, and by 1830 he had purchased much of the eastern end of the estate, which previously had been owned by his forebears.

The castle is built on an L-shaped plan, oriented on a south-east axis, so the oriel window is central on the south east elevation, providing a vista across the landscaped gardens to a panorama of The Needles and the Isle of Wight.

The couple lived at Curraghmore, County Waterford for many years, and during this time Louisa became an accomplished painter whose work is still valued today.

In 1891 Lady Waterford died and as she had no children she left Highcliffe Castle to a very distant cousin Edward Stuart Wortley.

At the age of 21, Wisconsin-born Selfridge joined the wholesale retail firm of Marshall, Field and Co in Chicago, where he worked for 25 years.

[14] During the War, Rose joined the Red Cross and opened a tented retreat called the Mrs Gordon Selfridge Convalescent Camp for American Soldiers in the castle grounds.

Early in 1950 local businessman J.H.Leonard Lloyd bought it from the Stuart Wortley family to turn into a large children's convalescent home.

Having already founded and run a successful similar home near Lynton in North Devon, he charged four guineas a week.

Unfortunately later on unfounded media allegations of the indecent assault of children led to a subsequent court case, which although dismissed resulted in the home's closure.

He then sold on the castle and residual gardens for £14,000 to the Roman Catholic Claretian Missionary, who wanted to develop a training centre for student priests.

Blocked from any form of development or demolition, resultantly exposed to the weather and vandals, the Castle deteriorated into a ruin.

After a long series of legal redevelopment disputes with the businessmen, in 1977 Christchurch Council compulsorily purchased the Castle for £65,000 – its valuation set by a Land Tribunal undertaken by the Adjudicator to HM Land Registry – and opened the grounds and beach access to the public to mark the Queen's Silver Jubilee.

In 1989 the Council and English Heritage jointly commissioned Niall Phillips Architects of Bristol to consider what future the Castle might have.

As a result of the restoration work, an estimated 55,000 visitors will now be able to access parts of Highcliffe Castle that were previously not open to the public, including the state dining room, butler's pantry and the East Tower.

Following the success of Phase 6, in 2018 Greendale Construction Limited carried out yet another major 18-month renovation and restoration of Highcliffe Castle's Penleaze Wing.