Croft Castle is a country house in the village of Croft, Herefordshire, England. Owned by the Croft family since 1085, the castle and estate passed out of their hands in the 18th century, before being repurchased by the family in 1923. In 1957 it was bequeathed to the National Trust. The castle is a Grade I listed building, and the estate is separately listed as Grade II*. The adjacent Church of St Michael is listed Grade I.
The present building dates from the 1660s during the time when Herbert Croft was Bishop of Hereford, replacing an earlier house some thirty yards to the west, which was excavated by Herefordshire County Archaeologist Prof. Keith Ray and volunteers in 2002. The manor house is a quadrangular stone structure around a central courtyard with round corner towers, and a square bay on the north elevation. Some stone mullion windows remain on all elevations. The castle is one of the first examples of medieval revival, and has affinities to Ruperra Castle, Caerphilly, and Lulworth Castle, Wareham, Dorset.
Croft Castle is a Grade I listed building. The stable block, and two stretches of walling, are listed at Grade II. Three estate buildings also have Grade II listings, the Gothic Pumphouse, Croft Lodge, and Cock Gate Cottage. The Church of St Michael is listed Grade I. The garden and parkland surrounding the castle have their own Grade II* listing.
The property has a three-acre walled garden. It also has a Georgian stable block. The estate has an avenue of Sweet Chestnut trees which were planted over four hundred years ago. Beech and oak trees line the main drive. The Fishpool Valley was landscaped in the eighteenth century with descending ponds, a grotto, a Gothic pumphouse, an ice house and a lime kiln, and has undergone major restoration to bring it back to its scenic origins.
The Church of St Michael dates from around the 14th century. The box pews are seventeenth-century and there are some medieval floor tiles made at Malvern. and the fine tomb for Sir Richard and Eleanor Croft bears a resemblance to that of Henry VII in Westminster Abbey. The ceiling above the altar is seventeenth-century and is painted with clouds and gilded stars.
