In 1839 the Marchioness of Normanby wrote to her husband from the couple’s seat at Mulgrave Castle, on the Yorkshire coast just north of Whitby. Amongst other news, she told him of progress on the ‘new hermitage’ which was then being built, and of the views which were being opened in the woodland.

Lady Normanby’s (1798-1882) ‘charming woodland summer-house’ was noted in John Walker Ord’s history of Cleveland, published in 1846. Ord describes it as a ‘pretty tasteful structure’ with a thatched roof supported by rustic oak pillars to ‘harmonise’ with the woodlands around it. The interior was elegantly, but simply, furnished and the Hermitage had views to the mansion and out to sea. Curiously, the view that Ord chose to include in his work does not reflect the summer-house described in his prose.

A family letter of 1852 records further work to create vistas from the Hermitage, and in 1858 the roof was under repair – although work was delayed when a cartload of ling (heather) was mysteriously destroyed by fire on its way to Mulgrave Woods. The charming little building is shown in an engraving dated 1854, with what appears to be a grotto or chamber beneath.

In 1887 the Hermitage was described as a ‘pretty little rustic building’. The octagonal core was said to be ‘composed of Mulgrave cement’, a kind of Roman cement which was made on the estate (although correctly the building had a brick core coated in cement). As well as being used by the family, it was also a ‘favourite resort’ of picnic parties: in the 1880s visitors could request permission to ride around the woods in their carriages.

Romantic tales are told that the Hermitage was built on the site of an ancient religious establishment. This is probably a romantic tale, and in 1897 one writer was disappointed to find that it was ‘nothing more than a summer house of modern construction’. By the 1950s a visitor was saddened by the graffiti on the Hermitage, and it was clearly slipping into decay. Today only a section of wall is still standing, but the Flâneuse knows this only from photos found on social media. Despite a valiant effort clambering up hill and down dale she failed to find it, and a subsequent email to the estate office revealed that what’s left of the hermitage isn’t on a ‘route that is available to the public’.

Nineteenth century visitors to Mulgrave Woods were able to picnic in style as they were permitted to pitch tents for refreshments by the ‘Old Castle’. This was another eye-catcher in the landscape, being an ‘interesting and somewhat extensive ruin’ – the reimagined romantic remnant of a genuine ancient fortification. Landscape designer Humphry Repton suggested in 1792 that this ‘fragment of ancient Baronial importance’ should become an eye-catcher in the landscape, and it was subsequently partially rebuilt from the scattered stones on site.

Although mature trees now block the views, there were once magnificent prospects out to sea from the woods.

Whilst carriages and tents are not permitted in Mulgrave Woods today, the current Marquess and Marchioness continue to welcome visitors to walk in the woods and visit the Old Castle. The woods are open on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays except in the month of May. (Mulgrave Castle is private and the gardens open occasionally for charity).

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