The Wright Castle

"The Castle" at 34 Church Street West is a remarkable example of high Gothic Revival architecture. It remains one of the most prominent landmarks in the City and has helped to shape and define the character of the surrounding neighbourhood for more than 150 years.

This important building was the work of architect William Hay (1818-1888), an internationally recognized architect working mostly in the Gothic Revival style. The Castle was one of Hay's first commissions after establishing his Toronto practice in 1853. He stayed in Toronto for the next ten years and designed St. Basil's Church, St. Michael's College, an extension to the first Parliament Buildings on Front Street, and Oaklands, the massive Avenue Road estate of Ontario's first Premier, John Sanfield Macdonald. Hay also designed the Halifax estate of brew master Alexander Keith, Keith Hall. Toward the end of his life, he restored St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, the seat of world Presbyterianism.

“The Castle” was built in 1853 for George Wright, a Brampton businessman and politician. The property is reminiscent of an English manor house - presumably designed as such, to imply that its occupants were both successful in business and tremendously influential. The massing of “The Castle” retains considerable heritage character despite the loss of a rear wing, distinctive side tower, belvedere, and the brick façade being covered by siding.

Subsequent property owners were even more prominent in both local and provincial affairs: John A. Thistle, George Williams, J.W. Hewetson and Grenville Davis. The Castle was also the childhood home of the Hon. William Grenville Davis, Premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985.

The house and grounds together form one the most important urban cultural landscapes in the City. It is extremely rare to see the grounds of any large Victorian estate survive virtually intact to the present day, in the core of any municipality. Hedgerows and groupings of mature conifers and deciduous species - some dating to the mid 19th century, form a tremendously important open green space in the core of the City.