Muncaster Castle

Muncaster Castle is still a privately owned family home to the Penningtons and three generations of the family still live in the Castle today.

They are actively involved in the running of the business which is set up as a not-for-profit company. The estate employees 50 local people full time at the Castle and Gardens and this grows up to more than 65 in the height of summer.

Visitors to Muncaster are vital to the conservation work of, not only the Castle, but to the environment itself with a number of important horticultural projects. These include working with the Royal Botanical Society in Edinburgh to cultivate endangered trees from the Philippines as well as our own Sino-Himalayan gardens where near extinct trees and plants are cultivated in the hope that, one day, they may be returned to their natural lands.

The climate at Muncaster, thanks to the warmth of the Gulf Stream and northern climes, is equivalent to being at 11,000ft in the Himalayas and provides rich fertile soil and warm conditions required for such works.

Other environmental works include simple things like all of the lights being low-energy bulbs and, significantly, being able to naturally deal with all the waste water. This is done by reed beds that cleans all of the estates waste, better than a chemical plant!

As a result, your visit to Muncaster is important, not only to us, but to the continued environmental and conservation works of the Castle and its historic importance to the area, as well as the Gardens for its vital works on protecting the natural world. We hope you have an enjoyable experience visiting this majestic site and we look forward to welcoming you.