Belmont Castle

Belmont Castle was a neo-Gothic mansion near Grays in the English county of Essex. Built c. 1795 to designs by the little-known Thomas Jeffery, and surrounded by extensive pleasure grounds, it was the most prominent building in the parish, but was demolished in 1943 to make way for a chalk quarry. The castle and its occupants had played a significant role in the town's life for over a hundred years. Now a primary school - Belmont Castle Academy.

Belmont Castle was built c. 1795 for Zachariah Button, a wealthy local landowner, who also owned a neighbouring chalk quarry. During the 1840s, when the property was occupied by the Webb family, it was the seat of local cricket matches as well as a circle of music lovers mentioned by the pianist and writer Alice Diehl in her memoirs. One of its later owners, Edward R. Parker, who lived at Belmont Castle from 1880 until 1900, was chairman of the local county board. During his time there, Belmont's park was often used for local events, including a political rally in support of the Franchise Bill attended by 2000-3000 people. In the 20th century, the house was only sporadically occupied and chalk quarries increasingly encroached upon the pleasure grounds, although they were still used for charity fetes into the 1930s. When the Dobree family, the last tenants of the entire house, departed in 1930, the mansion was divided into individual rented flats and meeting rooms. The remaining land was let out to local farmers for grazing cattle and to the Tilbury Gas Company who used the North Lawn as a sports field and rented part of the mansion to use for changing rooms. The last owner of the property was the Associated Portland Cement Company, who had the mansion demolished in 1943 to make way for yet another chalk quarry.

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