The land for Belvoir Castle was a gift from William the Conqueror to his standard-bearer, Robert de Todeni, after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The name ‘Belvoir’ is French, meaning ‘beautiful view’, and this is the one feature of the castle that hasn’t changed over the years: on a clear day you can see right to Lincoln Cathedral, 30 miles away. De Todeni started building on the site in 1067 and there have been four castle buildings since then, though neither one seemed to survive for very long. The first building was destroyed during the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century and the second castle fell during the English Civil War. The third castle, designed by John Webb in 1668, did not have any more luck than the previous buildings and became very run-down over the following century. When the 5th Duke and Duchess of Rutland arrived there in 1799, they employed James Wyatt - a leading Gothic architect - to rebuild and renovate to make the castle their dream home. However, a fire in 1816 almost destroyed the whole project, along with paintings by Titian, Rubens and Reynolds. In spite of this, the Manners family were determined to continue the building work, and the castle was completed in 1832, supervised by architect Sir James Thornton. Though the castle is designed in the regency style, its medieval roots shine through in the neo-Gothic styling of parts of the buildings, which was in fashion at the time.  

You can to explore the castle on your own or take a guided tour. The castle has a varied art collection which was started by John, 3rd Duke of Rutland, including important paintings by Gaspard Poussin and Rubens, as well as later additions by Gainsborough. The 4th Duke of Rutland commissioned portraits from Sir Joshua Reynolds and paintings of his dogs from George Stubbs, and other paintings were collected and displayed by the 5th Duke and Duchess. 

The 8th Duchess, Violet, commissioned Edwardian garden designer Harold Peto to redevelop the gardens which we see today. Some areas of the gardens - such as the Hermit’s Garden, boat-shaped Rose Garden and peaceful Duchess Garden - were neglected in the past and are being brought to life again by a team of gardeners. In 2013 the castle discovered a set of landscaping plans from 1780 which had been drawn up by Capability Brown, thought to have been lost in the 1816 fire. The current Duchess of Rutland has worked hard to bring these plans to fruition and you can now see the original plans, 250 years after they were designed.