Architecture: A Gothick fantasy to be cherished: Strawberry Hill, a Georgian architectural curiosity, is a treasure that ought to be restored to its former glory, says Dan Cruickshank

5HORACE WALPOLE was one of the most curious people of 18th-century England, who created one of the century's most curious architectural fantasies.

Strawberry Hill, lying on the banks of the Thames in Richmond, south-west London, is a fanciful Gothick castle that launched a myriad of imitations in late-18th century Europe and America.

For 70 years the castle has been used as a teacher training college and has been virtually inaccessible to the public. Now St Mary's University College, Strawberry Hill's owner, is considering its future in the building. There is now a chance that this pioneering property can be decorated and even partly furnished as it was in Walpole's day. The taste for the Gothic style (or Gothick, as the Georgians knew it) was not invented by Walpole, but almost single-handedly he gave the Gothic revival its initial direction as a romantic and decorative alternative to the chaste symmetry and simplicity of long- dominant Neoclassicism.

Walpole acquired a cottage and five acres beside the Thames in 1747. He began to remodel and extend the cottage into his toy castle in 1752, completing work 25 years later. To bring about this transformation Walpole established a 'committee of taste', to generate ideas and to brief architects commissioned to design different aspects of the building.

Walpole and his committee sifted through illustrated books looking for Gothic details to copy - the Bishop of Durham's tomb canopy served for the chimney piece in the Little Parlour, Dugdale's print of the side doors of the choir of Old St Paul's Cathedral was the model for the library book cases - and commissioned various architects, including Robert Adam, who designed a fire surround inspired by the tomb of Edward the Confessor.

In terms of construction, Walpole did not aim for the solidity of medieval craftsmanship. For example, the fan vault in Walpole's Gallery, inspired by the stone vault in King Henry VII's chapel in Westminster Abbey, is reproduced at Strawberry Hill in wood and plaster.

Oblivion is a fate that could easily have befallen Strawberry Hill during its history, especially in the early 19th century, when moralists like Pugin railed against Walpole's archaeologically incorrect and morally dubious Gothic. The low point came in 1842 with the sale of Walpole's fantastic collection of art, porcelain, antiquities, books, and curiosities, including Queen Mary's comb, Cardinal Wolsey's red cap, and even, it is reputed, a pimple from Cromwell's nose.

During Walpole's life the house was one of the most popular sights in England. Walpole never refused admittance, provided visitors followed his rules, which included one that barred children.

On his death in 1797, Walpole left Strawberry Hill to the descendants of his favourite niece, Maria, whose first husband was the second Earl Waldegrave.

The seventh earl auctioned the bulk of the contents in 1842. Strawberry Hill was bought by St Mary's College, a Vincentian seminary, in the 1920s.

The college has tried its best to maintain the castle, even to furnish and decorate it in an appropriate manner. In most respects its actions over the years have been admirable. But the building is too important and precious to be left in the hands of an owner who, although sympathetic, cannot make the restoration of the castle a priority.

The college is considering its position and may attempt to run it as a conference and functions centre. However, if the castle was to be bought by a specially formed trust, it would be possible to redecorate it in authentic manner and to bring home many of Walpole's possessions. About 40 objects are in the Victoria & Albert Museum and some in the British Museum. Others remain in private collections - such as those owned by the Waldegrave family, but by far the largest collection is owned by Yale University in the United States.

If Strawberry Hill were to become an Anglo-American study centre, under the patronage of Yale, then it is conceivable that the Farmington collection could be rehoused in Strawberry Hill and its interior would once again reveal the full vigour of Walpole's extraordinary 'vision'. Money would, of course, be needed to compensate the college, and this is where English Heritage could come in, supported with money from the National Lottery-boosted Heritage Memorial Fund. Spending these proceeds on Strawberry Hill would be entirely appropriate: it is one of the most important 18th-century country houses in Britain and, almost by itself, revolutionised international taste.

The urgent task now is to make sure the opportunity is not missed to restore this monument and to make it at least as accessible to the public as it was in Walplole's day.

(Photograph omitted)