This past March Break I had the pleasure of being able to finally visit Dundurn Castle in Hamilton, Ontario for the first time. Dundurn Castle is a 40-room Italianate-style villa built in the 1830’s on Burlington Heights; the former site of a fortified military encampment established by the British during the War of 1812. It was once home to Sir Allan Napier MacNab, railway magnate, lawyer and Premier of the United Canadas (1854-1856) and his family.1 Partially built by the British Army, and with connections to the 1837 Rebellion that are more fully explored by the Military Museum that is next door, it’s very much an impressive site that is well looked after and has their tours etc down pat.
The Dovecot (for pigeons/doves for eating)
The buildings (distinct from the house itself) where the gift store, main reception and activity space is
When you reach Dundurn Castle, you purchase entrance but you have to sign up for a guided tour, you’re not able to wander the house itself by yourself. However, it is situated in a lovely park and your pass also gets you admission to the Military Museum that is on the same site.
Front of the House
The Courtyard, (not reached by the main entrance)
Of course, there is a bunch of focus on the ‘above stairs’ aspects of the house, and they are very richly decorated and there’s a huge amount of carved wood. it’s clear that the families who lived in this house were both rich and put a lot of money into it, but the .. not limitations, but the realities of Victorian life in Canada are made clear, in the types of things that money could actually be spent on. It’s not particularly clear to me that this actually was a particularly comfortable house to live in.
part of the front hall and staircase
One of the formal sitting rooms in the house
A very interesting example of religious iconography in the house. At least part of the family was Roman Catholic rather than Anglican- interesting in that time period.
One of the bedrooms. Dark, but seems very comfy
I believe this is the Master’s bedroom.
As you can see, there’s a distinct difference in the ‘comfiness’ of the bedrooms, and the formal main-floor sitting rooms shown above.
Dundurn Castle also has an excellently preserved suite of “below stairs” rooms and compartments. Unfortunately, it was quite dark and many of my photos didn’t turn out. However, these rooms were some of the ones that survived from the Army’s prior building on the site.
The Kitchen- it is the correct space, but seems very empty. There’s a fire to the left, so this really only shows one part of the area and not the active cooking space with the stove/fire
I thought these were gingerbread moulds but apparently not. But they’re basically the same thing.
Overall, I was very impressed with both the museum itself and with the tour (that was very insightful and full of details about specifics items). It was, frankly. not the best thing for antsy 5 and 3 year old kids who aren’t good at being patient/standing still, but it would be good for slightly older kids. My boys did very much enjoy the kid’s activities, including dressing up in costumes/uniforms, making paper flowers and looking at plants from the garden. We were there in March Break, so alas the garden was not open but I imagine it would be fantastic this time of year. (June, when this is posted).
The last building- not part of the tour, but on the grounds- has recently been identified as a cockfighting pit (as in, chickens). This certainly puts a different spin on the whole site, bringing to light a different kind of entertainment activity there- one so popular they built a permanent structure.
Overall, I was very impressed with Dundurn Castle and I very much suggest you visit if you get the chance.
