Nelson's Castle thru Sharp's Words & Eyes

The castle that bears the beloved admiral’s namesake was never visited by Horatio Nelson. Since his illegitimate children were never recognized, the estate passed to his older brother, and then nieces and nephews who were required to inhabit the castle 10 of 12 months a year in order to maintain ownership.

Here he is at death in 1805.



Born to a reverend, Horatio Nelson never walked the grounds of his Sicilian estate in Maniace - just outside of Bronte (famous for its pistachios).

After all, he was a very busy guy. Enrolled in the Navy at 12. Hard at work winning battles. Becoming a legend... And had as much drama at home as he found at sea!

His love affair with Lady Hamilton, once prostitute and then wife of British ambassador to Naples was legendary...The fact that he ended up war-wretched from his battle years with just one arm and a few teeth, Nelson was still the apple of Lady Hamilton’s eye. In fact, she and her husband and Nelson opted to share a home in England in the glare of public scrutiny rather than in secluded and sunny Sicily.

Once a confidant to the Neopolitan queen, his mistress later died penniless and drunk in France after two stints in jail for not paying her bills.



I digress....Back to the castle...Rather than tell you what we saw. I thought it might be fun to let poet William Sharp tell you in his own words. A frequent guest of the castle, he died suddenly during a visit in 1905 (exactly 100 years after Horatio's death) and is buried in the cemetery.

Come on in through these beautiful doorways...and wait til you see what's inside!



These our are family friends (now retired in Hawaii) who were frequent overnight guests of Lord Bridport at the castle in the 1960s. Look how lovely the gardens were kept!