Gorton Castle is the Himachal Pradesh State Accountant General office located at the city center, The Mall Road in Shimla, India. It was formerly the historic summer capital of British India in 1904 and served as Civil Secretariat of the Imperial Government of India. ^[5]

This giant, austere grey stone structure was designed by Sir Swinton Jacob with Lord Curzon’s, liking during the early twentieth century.

He was known as “the best professional architect in India”, according to Lord Curzon, Viceroy of the Imperial India. The building is inspired with neo-gothic architecture with a blend of Indo-saracenic style, combining a little of Hindu, Muslim and Western style. ^[0]

The design was modified by Major H.F.

Chesney, who was the resident engineer.

This four storey architecture was an intelligent and one of the best creations of Sir Swinton Jacob ever designed.

He had been a consulting engineer in Jaipur creating some of the finest work including the Lalgarh Palace in Bikaner in 1881, the irrigation system in Jaipur, the Albert Hall in Jaipur, which opened as a museum in 1887, and St. Stephen's College at Kashmere Gate, Delhi in 1891. ^[-1]

The land where Gorton Castle is built was originally intended for a state hospital.

The design of the castle was fitting with its high location on the hilltop and aesthetic landscape.

The castle’s name was formed after the owner of the building, Mr Gorton.

Later, it was bought by Sir James Walker and after that, it was taken over by the Imperial Government of India to build the office of Civil Secretariat.

Located on the hilltop, this 100-year-old edifice is built over 80,000 sq ft with dimensions of 400ft*100ft.

It was created with red stone set in lime and red iron sheets in a Gothic style.

Having over 125 rooms and three stories, it is a multi-faceted, striking structure.

The chalet-like impression given by the entrance of the castle and a giant portico with a marvellous fresco were quite splendid.

The other facet of building had bay windows.

The beautiful Rajasthani jali work on the balconies is stilled marvelled by decades.

^[9]

The high -pitched square and pointy towers along with grey colored stone walls gave it a fairy-tale castle-like appearance.

The looming castle on the hilltop on the Mall can be spotted from a great distance.

Travelers can use the public or private buses or cab service to visit Shimla.

From the Mall Road, one can walk through the Cart Road and find the Gorton Castle, which is just a little distance away from the Mall Road.

In 2014, a devastating fire broke out in the middle of the night and burnt the whole building.

^[8] The top two floors of the 20th century castle were on fire and were reported by the early morning walkers.

^[-1] The renovation of this Victorian Building was started and 56 crore rupees budget for restoration was approved by the Central government of India. ^{[6] [7]} Thousands of records of employees were incinerated in the fire. ^[2]