The castle was built in 1837 by John Bagot Pearson, a solicitor from Kirkby Lonsdale. it was undoubtedly modelled on the much larger Lowther Castle near Penrith, sharing the same symmetry and arrangement of central tower and turrets in Victorian gothic revival style.
There is some evidence of a smaller building, perhaps a Georgian farmhouse, at the centre of the castle and it is likely that this older structure was simply added to and castellated.
Originally the castle was just one room deep and three rooms long. The original main rooms of the castle, the Drawing Room, Dining Room and Hall all retain their original ceilings, again clearly inspired by the interior ceiling mouldings of Lowther Castle.
Over the next 100 years Augill was added to and remodelled. In 1927 a gas explosion destroyed the single storey East wing and the current wing, built in a much more angular style than the original castle, was added.
The main staircase was originally the entire width of the tower up to the first landing with small secondary staircases leading off left and right through arched openings into separate wings. Roof lines at the back of the castle confirm that there were once additional wings either side of the tower. Indeed, it is at the back of the castle that it’s true history as a dynamic structure constantly adapting to changing uses is evident, the front facade having remained unaltered.
The Tudor panelling in the Hall was added in the 1960s and is a collection of pieces collected from other houses locally.
By the mid 1980s the castle had been divided into holiday flats but the overall structure of the building and the original layout of the gardens remained intact.
We have added nothing to the structure, choosing instead to work with what was already here and enjoying the quirkiness of a building that has lived through various incarnations.