Real life equivalents Gormenghast (castle)

gormenghast castle amalgam of different real life castles , buildings. there numerous parallels knole, instance, stately home fifteen miles eltham peake went school. occupied same family 5 hundred years, knole s sprawling layout , varied architecture, added , modified successive generations, bear comparison gormenghast. (some of descriptions of knole vita sackville-west remarkably similar passages peake.)

its massive walls evoke great norman castles , keeps of medieval europe, such walled city of carcassonne (pictured), rochester castle in england or caernarfon castle in wales; while ancient walled chinese cities of beijing , tientsin mervyn peake spent childhood major influence. chinese source may qufu in shandong province, birthplace of confucius. descendants lived there 2 thousand years, practising obscure rituals worthy of gormenghast in sprawling mansion hundreds of rooms (partially destroyed fire in 1877). eldest son in each generation inherited title of yansheng duke. last live in mansion posthumous son of 76th duke (and therefore 77th holder of title, titus groan). born in 1920, 77th yansheng duke forced flee island of taiwan in 1937 when japanese invaded china.

the inner buildings of gormenghast owe gothic , regency period mansions , various styles of english country house. quadrangles , professors quarters owe architecture of oxford , cambridge , eltham college peake educated boy when returned england. finally, isolated channel island of sark, retained feudal system of government until 2008, may have influenced peake, lived there in 1930s , again in late 1940s. references gormenghast castle rocky island of many promontories , sheer cliffs echo geography of sark. island became... part of mythological landscape, said peake confidante gordon smith.