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WARWICK CASTLE

Warwickshire

Warwick Castle, Warwickshire

Warwick Castle often refers to itself as "the best preserved medieval Castle in England" and it is no idle boast.  Although not 100% medieval enough of the substance of this very large Castle is ancient and it is, without doubt, one of the top sites for tourism in England.

Warwick Castle is also very ancient as Castle's go.  The motte, known incorrectly as Ethelfleda's Mound (after the daughter of Alfred the Great who fortified Warwick (and Tamworth, Staffs)), was built by William I.  Henry de Beaumont was made Earl of Warwick by William II in 1088 and from there on in Warwick Castle became the seat of the Earls who bore its name.  The Castle was taken by trickery during the Anarchy by Henry of Anjou, who later became Henry II.

The wooden keep was replaced by a shell keep of stone in 1173, with curtain walling following soon afterwards.  The Castle remained in this form for nearly a century until it passed through a series of failing successions to William Maudit in 1263.  The following year John Giffard from Kenilworth Castle captured Warwick for Simon de Montfort. The Castle's trouble with family succession continued when Maudit died without issue and the Castle passed to William Beauchamp, the owner of Elmley Castle in Worcestershire.  The Beauchamps took Warwick Castle into its glory days.

They stayed in charge for six generations; and during this period the Gatehouse and the two magnificent towers were added.  The second Earl, Guy, brought Piers Gaveston to Warwick and had him executed on Blacklowe Hill, setting in motion the chain of events that led to the dethroning and murder of Edward II (see Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire).  His son, Thomas, was a founder member of the Knights of the Garter.  It was probably Thomas who started the rennovations to Warwick Castle which gave the Castle its familiar profile today.

In 1449 the Castle passed via Anne Beauchamp to the Neville family.  The first Neville to hold the Castle was Richard, known as Warwick the Kingmaker.  The Earl supported both sides at various times during the Wars of the Roses and was, in many ways, responsible for putting Edward IV on the Throne and then having him deposed in favour of his predecessor Henry VI. When Edward was subsequently returned to the Throne Warwick fell out of favour and was eventually killed at the Battle of Barnet in 1471.

The Earldom fell then on Edward IV's brother, the Duke of Clarence, who was famously put to death in a vat of wine at the Tower of London.

For a while Warwick left centre stage in favour of Kenilworth, but it was repaired in 1483 and the last of the great Towers was added by Richard III.  During the brief time when John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland was made Earl of Warwick as well the Castle was in bad condition, and it was probably during this period that the shell keep lost most of its circuit.  Dudley was executed in 1553, and it wasn't until 1558 that Ambrose Dudley was created Earl by Elizabeth I.

The Queen stayed here twice, and the huge apartments were built along the side of the Castle facing the River Avon.  In 1604 the Castle passed back into the Beauchamp family when Sir Fulke Greville became custodian.  He was killed in the Civil War storming Lichfield's fortified Cathedral Close.  The Castle was in turn besieged in 1642, but was never seriously damaged. Considerable remodelling was carried out to the apartments during the 1660s/1670s.  In 1746 Lord Brooke was created Earl of Warwick, reuniting the title with its Castle.

In 1978 the Madame Tussauds Group bought the Castle and have today turned it into one of the greatest tourist attractions in Britain.

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2019


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