Hordle Castle.

As you walked into the recent Autumn Miniatura at Stoneleigh this is what you would have seen:

Isn’t this absolutely fantastic?

This is Hordle Castle, a work in progress, possibly for a lifetime, by Jon Trenchard.  Autumn Miniatura was the second appearance of the castle at Miniatura.

Before we hear about the creation of this dolls’ house to end all doll’s houses, from Jon himself, let’s take a closer look, copying a couple of thousand astounded and delighted visitors in September.

Isn’t it fabulous?

Let’s hear from Jon.

‘I started building Hordle Castle when I was 12 years old.  Dad was into model railways, Mum was into dollhouses.  They took me to fairs like Miniatura but also around National Trust houses and historic castles.  I wanted a castle of my own to live in, but I knew that could never happen so I decided to make an imaginary National Trust Castle in 1/12th scale.  Back then, in the eighties, you could buy Georgian, Victorian or Tudor houses, but not a castle.  So I asked Dad to help me build the walls of a great hall.  And the Castle has been growing ever since.

Then one day I got an email to Miniatura visitors from organiser Andy Hopwood asking for unusual miniature houses for a journalist writing a newspaper article, and, thanks to that, Hordle Castle gained attention in the press, and Andy asked me to exhibit the castle at Miniatura in 2021.  Apart from one time at the Kensington Dollshouse Festival, the castle has only been exhibited to the public at Miniatura, although I would love the National Trust to display it at a real historic house someday.  If anybody has contacts in the NT who could help, please get in touch.

(If you can help, please scroll down, click on ‘leave a comment’, I will forward any messages to Jon.)

This year for the first time at the autumn Miniatura, I exhibited Hordle’s new drawing room, kitchen and scullery.  I’ve been working on them for the last couple of years (in spare moments alongside a commission of a 1:87 scale gothic castle and my other jobs as an actor, musical director, dog walker and music teacher) so it’s exciting for me to share them at last.  I bought the kitchen range at a miniatures fair when I was a teenager, so they have been a long time in the planning.

(If you feel a commission coming on, scroll down, click on ‘leave a comment’.)

I have no training in visual arts, I just pick up techniques from books, the Internet and other model makers.  People often ask me how I make stone walls:  I have experimented with various techniques from cereal packets and egg cartons to XPS insulation foam and air drying clay, but hopefully by using the same painting techniques, all the different materials blend together.

Quite a few visitors at Miniatura suggested I write a book about Hordle Castle: how it is made, the inspiration behind the rooms and the National Trust Guide Book fake history of the castle, rooms and family who lived there.  So perhaps when that is done, and a few more mini rooms are complete, the castle might go on public display again.  In the meantime you can check out my progress on Instagram : @hordlecastle

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How wonderful this house is and how keen we all are to see the rest as Jon magicks it into reality.  This is one of the many great facets of Miniatura; because it evolved to exhibit the work of original artists working in miniature and is still doing so, there is art and inspiration everywhere you look.

Hordle Castle is quite exceptional, I look forward to Jon’s next visit to the Min, if you do too, keep an eye on the website a couple of weeks before the show when the exhibitor listings appear.

www.miniatura.co.uk

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