Baginton Castle, also known as Bagot's Castle, is a ruined

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

Baginton Baginton is a village and civil parish in the Warwick district of Warwickshire, England, and has a common border with the City of Coventry / West Midlands county. With a population of 801 ( 2001 Census), Baginton village is 4 miles (6.5 km) south ...

, Warwickshire, England. It was originally built in the 12th century by

Geoffrey Savage Geoffrey, Geoffroy, Geoff, etc., may refer to: People * Geoffrey (name), including a list of people with the name * Geoffroy (surname), including a list of people with the name * Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095–c. 1155), clergyman and one of the ...

and it was rebuilt as a stone keep during the late 14th century. The surviving ruin that can be seen is of a late 14th-century house, but it is not well known because of its location in an area of woodland. No earthworks or ruins survive of the 12th-century

motte and bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortification ...

, although its location has been identified.

History

The original

was built at Baginton on the site of a 7th-century house by Geoffrey Savage in the 12th century during the reign of

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the No ...

. A dwelling house was also erected on the site. By the 14th century, this castle was in disrepair and it was demolished and rebuilt as a stone keep around 1397 by Sir William Bagot.

Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, 4th Baron Percy, titular King of Mann, KG, Lord Marshal (10 November 134120 February 1408) was the son of Henry de Percy, 3rd Baron Percy, and a descendant of Henry III of England. His mother was Mar ...

, was imprisoned at Baginton Castle following his son Harry Hotspur's defeat at the

Battle of Shrewsbury The Battle of Shrewsbury was a battle fought on 21 July 1403, waged between an army led by the Lancastrian King Henry IV and a rebel army led by Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy from Northumberland. The battle, the first in which English archers ...

on 21 July 1403. This castle was in disrepair by the 16th century, as it was described by John Leland in 1540 as 'desolate'. Francis Goodere purchased the castle in 1544 and passed it down to his son Henry after his death. Henry Goodere had an extravagant lifestyle and to raise cash he sold the castle and its surrounding land to Sir William Bromley in 1618. By 1706, most of the surviving earthworks of the 12th-century motte had been levelled and were replaced by a pleasure garden; during the 18th century, the ruins were being used as a

pigsty A sty or pigsty is a small-scale outdoor enclosure for raising domestic pigs as livestock. It is sometimes referred to as a hog pen, hog parlor, pigpen, pig parlor, or pig-cote, although pig pen may refer to pens confining pigs that are kep ...

. Between 1933 and 1948, the 14th-century keep was excavated, but it was eventually overgrown by shrubs again. It was fully excavated in 2009 to how it is today and it was also opened to the public during the same year. 15th- and 16th-century earthworks of the surrounding village and the 7th-century house destroyed to make way for the castle have also survived. Part of the ditch also survives on the eastern side and the site of the 12th-century motte and bailey has been identified to probably lie within the site of the gazebo. The remains are designated as a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

building and Scheduled Monument. File:Motte and bailey baginton.jpg, Probable site of a tower from Geoffrey Savage's original motte and bailey; currently adjacent to the 19th-century

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. Etymology The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries (website), Oxford D ...

ruins, 2023 File:Baginton Castle 2023.jpg, Baginton Castle in May 2023, post-restoration (from the south) File:Baginton castle ditch.jpg, Surviving easterly ditch of the 14th-century castle in 2023

References

Castles in Warwickshire Scheduled monuments in Warwickshire History of Warwickshire Grade II listed buildings in Warwickshire Grade II listed castles {{castle-stub