Elvaston Castle

I went down to Derby in this week to see my Derbyshire cousins. Together we visited Elvaston Castle, a stately home in the village of that name and not far from the county town. Although in a poor state and deemed too dangerous to admit members of the public, the building is impressive nevertheless and its grounds are rather fine.

On three sides it is most certainly neo-gothic, from that later Georgian period, the first third of the nineteenth century. The windows are pointed, but not convincingly medieval, a feat for which Victorian architects would prove more adept. Yet the oldest part of the frontage, which apparently escaped the renovations, is a brick-built wing dated 1633, and very much of its period. It is two centuries older than its neighbouring sections, even though they are constructed in an older style.

I am always curious when I read non-Christian scriptures, such as the Qur’an and the Book of Mormon, translated into English using a seventeenth-century style and syntax. Doubtless wishing to evoke the authority of King James’ Authorised Version of the Bible, they say ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ and ‘thine’, but they are just relatively modern writings dressing up in older clothes, like kids trying to buy cheap booze from the ‘offy’, hoping to appear older than they truly are. I have heard Pentecostals deliver ‘words from the Lord’ as though they were puritan divines (“Thus saith the Lord: ‘Would that mine people feareth me more!”’ etc) straight out of the Westminster Assembly.

The oldest bit of Elvaston Castle is the bit that least looks like a castle, constructed in the most recent of architectural styles. Beware of mutton dressed as lamb; be alert for old lies in new clothes.