OLD WARDOUR CASTLE

Wiltshire

This handsome ruin was begun in 1393 by John, Lord Lovell.  The keep is of a unique hexagonal plan around a small central courtyard with a large squared off entrance block.  This front section is now the best preserved part of the Castle, with much of the back range of the keep having been damaged during the Civil War.

Nothing seems to have occurred in this hidden corner of England until a rebuild was undertaken by Sir Matthew Arundell in 1578.

Wardour Castle's glory days came in the Civil War when it was besieged by both sides. Lady Arundell tried valiantly to keep the Roundheads out of the Castle in 1643. Once they had taken the Castle they found themselves surrounded by staunch Royalists on all sides and the Castle suffered a heavy bombardment until the siege was broken in 1644.  By the time the Roundheads were driven out the Castle had been reduced to the shattered ruin we see today.  Despite its ruinous state Old Wardour Castle is fascinating and is a maze of small rooms and passage ways which can keep the Castle-hunter amused for some time.

In the 1770s the Arundells returned to Wardour and built the "New Wardour Castle" nearby, turning the Old Castle into a kind of huge garden ornament.  Today it is owned by English Heritage and is open during the summer months.

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2001