Corby Castle is a Grade I listed building and ancestral home of a cadet branch of the prominent Howard family situated on the southern edge of the village of Great Corby in northern Cumbria, England.

History

It was originally built in the 13th century, as a red sandstone tower house by the Salkeld Family, who also owned the nearby Salkeld Hall of similar age. It was sold in 1611 to Lord William Howard (1563–1640), the third son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, who added a two-storied L-shaped house onto the peel tower. Corby Castle has an early-18th century landscape garden. Henry Howard (1757–1842) inherited the estate from Sir Francis Howard, Lord William Howard's second son. The present façade was built for Henry by Peter Nicholson between April 1812 and September 1817. Robert Martin and Ian Yeates started a glassworks in the grounds of Corby Castle in 1986. They made a range of glass ornaments such as paperweights, perfume bottles and vases. Their work is signed "Martin Yeates".

Subsequent sale and ownership

Corby Castle was sold by Sir John Howard-Lawson Bt. and Lady Howard-Lawson in 1994 to Irish businessman and Ulster Unionist Party life peer Edward Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond. The principal contents of the Castle were sold in 1994 through Phillips of Scotland. Lord Ballyedmond carried out a total refurbishment of the castle, using it for both family and corporate entertainment. It was listed for sale again in 2024, with an asking price of £15 million.

In popular culture

In late 1981 Corby Castle was used as one of the main locations for the shooting of a five-part BBC mini-series. The dramatisation of Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White starred Diana Quick as Marian Halcombe.

Nearby buildings

Corby Bridge, a Grade I listed railway viaduct of 1834, is nearby.