Bruce Castle & Museum

About Bruce Castle & Museum

Manor house in London, United Kingdom

Bruce Castle, formerly the Lordship House, is a Grade I listed 16th-century manor house in Lordship Lane, Tottenham, north London, named after the Scottish House of Bruce, who once owned the land on which it stands. Believed to occupy the site of an earlier building about which little is known, it is one of the oldest surviving English brick houses, remodelled in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, and stands beside a mysterious round Tudor brick tower. Its residents have included Sir William Compton, the Barons Coleraine and Sir Rowland Hill, the postal reformer and inventor of the postage stamp, who ran a progressive school here in the 19th century, when a large extension was added on the west side. The house was then converted into a museum exploring the history of the areas that now form the London Borough of Haringey and, through its connection with Sir Rowland Hill, the history of the Royal Mail; it also holds the borough archives and hosts regular talks and workshops. Since 1892 the grounds have been a public park, Tottenham's oldest, with a tree trail and a children's playground. The house is a quiet, free local destination for families and anyone interested in the history of north London.

Where:

London, United Kingdom