MAXSTOKE CASTLE

Warwickshire

This particularly fine moated Castle is one of the trio in Warwickshire which take what would otherwise be poor Castle hunting country into one of the most rewarding of the Midlands.

The manor of Maxstoke belonged to William, Earl of Huntingdon in 1346 when Edward III gave licence to crenellate the manor, but the Castle had probably been more or less finished by then. A few years previously William had given land to the Augustinian Order to build a monastery on his land (one of the last monasteries founded in England before the Reformation), and the Castle stands at the opposite end of his property. Much of the Castle we see today dates from the initial building, although some of the buildings inside the courtyard were added much later, in the 1590s. As such it is one of the earliest examples of the moated courtyard Castle that would become very familiar in the next century (reaching a pinnacle with Bodiam Castle in Sussex).

In 1444 the Castle's owned became the Duke of Buckingham and he remodelled some of the interior structures of the Castle and possibly elaborated on the existing gatehouse.  He was killed at the Battle of Northampton in 1459 and his heir was executed by Richard III in 1483.  The Castle passed to the King and it wasn't until 1485 that the 3rd Duke regained the property, only to be executed by Henry VIII in 1521.

The Castle was rebuilt as a place for the King to stay when in Warwickshire, but Henry soon leased the Castle to the Compton family, and they carried out the final stage of building work inside the Castle.

In 1643 the Castle was held for Parliament until 1648 when the Civil War was virtually over; although slighting was supposed to have occurred none seems to have been undertaken. Unusually, Maxstoke was pressed into military service one last time in 1745 when soldiers were billetted here on their way to Derby to meet Bonnie Prince Charlie and halt his journey south.

The Castle is a private residence but opens on a few days through the year to the public at large.

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© Text copyright - Raving Loony Productions, Andrew J. Müller and Roy Barton
© Photos and Artwork - Andrew J. Müller and Roy Barton
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2001