Role model for castle?

Published: 23 April, 2010

• DAN Carrier’s article on Mervyn Peake shed light on the importance of the rugged island of Sark in the imaginative shaping of Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy (Peake into the world of Gormenghast, April 16).
Doubtless, during his early years in Peking, the ex-Imperial Palace had some kind of role-model for Ghormenghast Castle. Peake lived for some time in the Sussex village of Burpham – opposite Arundel Castle – although how much influence it had on his conception of Gormenghast remains uncertain.
TIM BLEACH
Duncombe Road, N19