Costume at Castle Howard

15 miles from York lies Castle Howard, the first architectural creation of Sir John Vanbrugh. Commissioned by Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, this dramatic palace has been open to the public ever since it was built some 250 years ago.\nMany thousands of visitors each year enjoy the House, which the family still occupies, with its vast grounds, formal gardens, fountains, lakes, domed Temple of the Four Winds and, Hawksmoor's work of genius, the Mausoleum.\nIn 1782 John Carr of York built the Stable Court, which now houses the famous Costume Galleries founded in 1965 by George Howard, the present owner of Castle Howard. They contain the largest private collection of 18th to 20th century costume in Britain, a selection being displayed in life-like setting of their period whose atmosphere is re-created by use of the appropriate furniture and domestic equipment.\nEach year the displays are changed to show different costumes from the many thousands here conserved. This book pictures a cross-section of the vast range in a unique collection.