Posted on 02/01/2025 3:50:32 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Many can identify with the immense relief that accompanies downsizing later in life.
After years of slogging at the coal face and raising children, an empty nest can mean the chance to move to a smaller place with lower bills and experience the heady rush of freedom.
Sir Thomas Ingilby certainly knows the feeling: he recalls the moment of handing over the keys to his Yorkshire home as akin to 'a giant weight being lifted off my shoulders'. It was extraordinary,' the 69-year-old muses. 'I've never felt anything like it. It really was like a physical sensation.'
Then again, the weight in question was an unusually hefty one, given it came in the form of Ripley Castle, a vast and ancient estate that has been in Sir Thomas's family for 700 years and 28 generations and which he inherited at the tender age of 18.
That weight was not just the upkeep of the castle itself but preservation of a family legacy that dates back to the mid-1300s. From Catholic martyrs and Gunpowder Plotters to the redoubtable 'Trooper Jane', a female Ingilby ancestor who held Oliver Cromwell at gunpoint overnight in the castle library during the Civil War, the wealth of history here is immense.
Yet this year, if all goes to plan, a non-Ingilby (with £21million to spare) will take residence within these ancient walls for the first time.
'It's been half a century of responsibility and now we are ready for an irresponsible retirement' says the affable Sir Thomas.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
get your motor runnin!
I thought about putting in a bid until I realized how much dusting and vacuuming I would have to do........
What a selfish lowlife POS. 28 generations of his family have fought, died, sacrificed, and been gifted that. And he just sells it.
I'd ask about any grail-shaped beacons first.
I think I got this aristocracy thing down. As William, First Baron Of Drill, the first thing I gotta do is staff up. So who wants to be Groom Of The Stool? I’ll need references...
I motorboated a wench. Does that count?
The 2 happiest days of a lordship. The day you buy a castle, and the day you sell it!!
Along with his wife and two young daughters, Jamie, the current key holder, is ensconced in the castle's 11-bedroom private apartment until a sale is completed.
11 bedrooms for a family of four. We had 11 permanent residents for a while in a 4-bedroom house.
I’ll have to go back to cleaning the gutters and cutting the grass again.
Its my understanding that huge tracts of land are almost guaranteed to a man with a castle.
I would think at most to carve out an apartment in a remote wing, and make it into a hotel and event center.
A bunch of the old Prussian palaces in what is now southwest Poland have been turned into hotels.
You go for it. It’s too much headache for me.
I’m old, and want a nice little condo.
“Is there a dungeon?”
Not sure, but per the article there’s a priest hole.
Wonder if these folks are still cath-o-leeks as my hubby’s grandpa would say.
I’m a Wench, but I don’t haul boats around, do laundry, or bed aristoc-rats
Just in time for the Labor party to take it over to house North African immigrants in it.
"Oh, great heavens, no!" said Sir Thomas, trying to supress his amusement. "No, no, no."
After a stately little cough, Sir Thomas paused, adjusted his his pince-nez, and with just the slightest suggestion of hesitation he added in a low voice, "It does, however, come with my younger brother Frederick. Freddie has had a regrettably long streak of bad luck with the horses, as you may know... and suffered an unfortunate loss of lustre with the royal family after that incident involving the Duchess of Sussex and a novelty store blow-tickler."
"Bad show all around, that. Despite His Majesty's obvious personal enjoyment of the episode, it has made Freddie persona non grata to the point where he has become a bit reclusive and rather like one of the castle's furnishings... thus he comes with castle and emoluments. You'll find Frederick to be great fun, jolly as a sand-boy and a rather good mixer of drinks," said Sir Thomas as his expression began to brighten. "He will be absolutely invaluable to you while navigating your first social season here at Ripley!"
“Why, there’s almost enough room for you to make me a sammich!”
Darling! Cook will do that for you! I’m busy with my events in the Village to show the Proletariat that I CARE. I am also planning TWO weddings for the Spring Season and am packing up an entire CASTLE so we can move to a smaller Castle!
*KISS-KISS*
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