ASTLEY CASTLE

Warwickshire

This rather neglected ruin standing in a field near a church is the battered remains of the home of a quite important local family.

The de Astleys had a manor here from an indeterminate time.  Thomas de Astley died fighting Simon de Montfort at Evesham in 1265 and the following year the Castle passed to Warine de Bassingbourn who was granted licence to crenellate.  By the end of the year the late Thomas de Astley's son, Andrew, had recovered his estates and it was probably he who had the initial Castle built.  The Castle seems to have followed the familiar quadrangle plan and has a square wet moat. It may have been a smaller version of nearby Maxstoke Castle.

The last de Astley died in 1420 and the Castle passed through various families into the possession of Henry, Duke of Stafford.  He was one of the plotters who put Lady Jane Grey on the throne of England for nine days and he lost his life along with the Duke of Northumberland in 1553 (see also Dudley Castle, Kenilworth Castle and Framlingham Castle).  Jane Grey almost certainly stayed at the Castle before he unfortunate trip to London.  Mary I had the Castle demolished, although a building was later built on the site.

Until the late 1970s the Castle was operating as an hotel, but it became derelict remarkably quickly and is today listed on the "most at risk" list compiled by English Heritage.

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2001