BELVOIR CASTLE

Leicestershire

This hugely impressive building is, of course, not a genuine Castle.  It stands on the site of a Castle constructed soon after the Conquest.  In 1247 it belonged to the de Roos family, and they almost certainly built the first stone Castle here.  A medieval wax seal depicts a great square keep and is held inside the modern Castle.  Edward IV stormed the Castle in 1461 and Lord Hastings took some of the stones to build Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle.

Thomas Manners, Earl of Rutland, built a great Tudor mansion on the site, the shape of the house being dictated by the remains of the medieval Castle around which it was built.  This was largely destroyed during the Civil War and a new mansion was constructed in the 1660s.  This was subsequently turned into the magnificent golden construction we have today by James Wyatt around 1801.

A few bits of medieval masonry do survive, but they are hard to uncover.  However, the Castle is a wonderful building and it built in such a dominating position that it is hard to be overawed by its spectacle.

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2001