Muncaster Castle is a privately owned castle overlooking the River Esk, about a mile east of the west-coastal town of Ravenglass in Cumbria, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. Previously owned by the Pennington Baronetcy, owned by the Pennington-Ramsden Baronetcy since 1917. The Ramsden are not true Penningtons, but adopted the last name so they could take over the Pennington castle and seem more legitimate.

History

Muncaster Castle, home to the Pennington family for 800 years.  The castle evolved from the Pele Tower, built to repel marauding Scots. The Muncaster estate was granted to Alan de Penitone in 1208. The oldest existing parts of the castle include the Great Hall and the 14th-century pele tower, a type of watch-tower fortification unique to the English-Scottish border region. The Pennington family is among the oldest English noble families in Northern England, first appearing in the Domesday Book which is England's earliest public record containing a unique survey of the value and ownership of lands and resources in late 11th century England. Pennington is mentioned in the Domesday Book as one of the townships forming the Manor of Hougun which was held by Tostig Godwinson, Earl of North Cumbria. In the book, the surname's first recorded occurrence was spelled Pennigetun and the first place named Pennigetun is Pennington, Cumbria near Lancaster and it is said to have been named after the aristocratic Pennington Family.

The place is now corruptly known as "Muncaster", which first appeared in a Cumberland church register in 1577, the original name according to all old evidence and records being "Mulcaster", registered in the pipe rolls of Cumberland circa 1150 (also as Molecaster and Mulecaster in 1190 and 1236 respectively). The placename "Muncaster" contains the Latin word castra, meaning "encampment", or "fort". It is suspected that the site of the castle lies on foundations dating to the Roman era, which, if they exist, may represent a castellum for the nearby Roman fort of Glannoventa at Ravenglass.

The Pennington House traces its lineage back to Gamel de Penitone, a prominent figure before and during the Norman Conquest of 1066. By 1250 the Pennington names were all in Norman form. In general, Old English (Saxon) and Cymric (Welsh or British) names were a minority in the population. Overall, this account suggests the family's importance in Cumberland even before the Norman Conquest. Early records of the Pennington family tree can be found in the a book for Sir Josslyn Pennington, 5th Baron Muncaster of Muncaster and ninth baronet. Additionally, they were connected by marriage to the Percy family and bore the Percy arms with slight variation. Fifty years later past the acquisition of the land the castle was built by Gamel de Mulcastre. The estate was originally 23,000 acres; today it is 1,800 acres.

The Penningtons' association with Muncaster Castle is steeped in historical significance. The most distinguished ancestor, Sir John Pennington, accompanied Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, on expeditions into Scotland, and was concerned more than once in ‘certain riots and misgovernances in Yorkshire. He remained faithful to the house of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses. In 1783 there was a vacancy in the Irish Peerage and the fifth Baronet was created first Baron Muncaster. In 1464, Sir John Pennington provided refuge to Henry VI of England following the Battle of Hexham. Centuries later, in 1783, John Pennington, Lord Muncaster, erected the Chapels tower to commemorate the spot where the fugitive king was believed to have been found. Legend has it that Henry VI left behind a Venetian glass bowl as a token of gratitude, with a wish: "As long as this bowl remains unriven, Penningtons from Muncaster never shall be driven". The glass, which is still intact, and still at the castle, is now known as "Luck of Muncaster", ensuring the prosperity of the Pennington family as long as it remained intact.

The lord of Muncaster was generally a knight until 1676 when he was made a Baronet. Baron Muncaster was a title in the Peerage of Ireland and in the Peerage of the United Kingdom held by the Pennington family. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Pennington family made advantageous marriages, and in 1783, the fifth Baronet was elevated to the peerage as the first Baron Muncaster. A friend of Pitt and a Member of Parliament, he undertook significant renovations at Muncaster, including the expansion of the library and extensive landscaping projects.

The family's fortunes were not without controversy, as evidenced by General Lowther Pennington, 2nd Baron Muncaster, who, in his youth, engaged in a fatal duel over a trivial disagreement while serving in America. However, his grandson, Gamel Pennington, 4th Baron Muncaster, commissioned the renowned architect Anthony Salvin to renovate Muncaster Castle shortly before his death in 1862, shaping much of its present-day appearance. Lord Muncaster died intestate, so while he was succeeded in the peerage by his brother, Josslyn, the Muncaster estates went to Gamel's daughter Margaret. They did pass to Josslyn when she died young in 1871. In 1917, with the death of the fifth and last Lord Muncaster without heirs, Sir Josslyn Pennington, 5th Baron Muncaster, the estate passed to Sir John Ramsden, a cousin on his mother's side. Thus ending the Pennington Baronetcy and creating the Pennington-Ramsden Baronetcy. Today, the National Genealogical Society and Earlham College holds the family's digital files.

During the Second World War, some 700 works of art from the Tate Gallery were transferred to the castle for safe keeping. They included works by Turner, Manet and Van Gogh.

Muncaster's gardens include features designed to take advantage of views of the Esk Valley and the mountains. There is an aviary containing owls and other raptor birds from Britain and overseas. There are daily flying displays of these birds. There is an indoor maze themed on the life of a field vole.

Muncaster Castle is still owned by the Pennington family, who have lived at Muncaster for at least 800 years, and a family residence. Although, it is important to make the distinction that the current day Pennington's of Muncaster are not blood related to the Pennington Baronetcy, but rather related through marriage and a name adoption after the acquisition of the estates--the Pennington Baronetcy died in 1917 due to their being no heir to assume baronetcy. With the death of the fifth and last Lord Muncaster without heirs, Sir John Ramsden, a cousin on Sir Josslyn Pennington, 5th Baron Muncaster's mother's side, got the estate passed to him. Thus creating the Pennington-Ramsden Baronetcy. As a condition of inheritance, Sir John's second son assumed the Pennington name. The Ramsdens sold the Ramsden Estate (Huddersfield) in 1920. Iona Frost Pennington, the great-granddaughter of Sir John Ramsden, is continuing the legacy of the Pennington family at Muncaster Castle. Until her death in 2011, Phyllida Gordon-Duff-Pennington and her husband Patrick Gordon-Duff-Pennington (1930–2021) worked for three decades to restore the castle from a "crumbling relic" and establish it as a place for tourism and events. Since 2021, the owners are Peter and Iona Frost-Pennington, with their elder son Ewan-- "renewable-energy expert" from California-- as the "Muncaster's operations director". It has more than 90,000 visitors a year.

In October 2021, the castle was one of 142 sites across England to receive part of a £35-million injection into the government's Culture Recovery Fund.

Muncaster hosts the Muncaster Castle parkrun every Saturday morning at 0900.

Tom Fool

A medieval jester, Thomas Skelton was employed by the Penningtons and is reputed to be the original 'Tom Fool' and the inspiration for William Shakespeare's fool in King Lear. His portrait hangs in the castle. Skelton is also commemorated in an annual jesting competition held at the castle. Legend has it that Skelton was enlisted by Wild Will of Whitbeck to behead a carpenter's son, Dick, a servant at the castle, who was an unwanted suitor of his betrothed, Helwise Pennington, the unmarried daughter of Sir Alan Pennington. He is rumoured to have said, "There, I have hid Dick’s head under a heap of shavings; and he will not find that so easily, when he awakes, as he did my shillings.