Maxstoke Castle is a privately owned moated

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 ...

dating from the 14th century, situated to the north of

Maxstoke Maxstoke is a hamlet and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire, England. It is situated approximately 2.5 miles north of Meriden. Maxstoke and the parish of Maxstoke were established in the hundred of Hem ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avo ...

, England.

History

It was built by Sir William de Clinton, 1st Earl of Huntingdon, in 1345 to a rectangular plan, with octagonal towers at each angle, a gatehouse on the east, and a residential range on the west, the whole surrounded by a broad

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

. Clinton died in 1354 but his widow,

Juliana Leybourne Juliana Leybourne (1303 – 2 November 1367) was an English noble who was heir to a huge estate. She married three times and became a countess of Huntingdon. She was a patron of textiles. She gave huge land rights to Edward III but retained some r ...

spent time here even after her next marriage. Additions were made by Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham who acquired it in 1437 by exchanging it for other manors in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It ...

. The castle is unusual in that it has survived largely intact. Amongst the antiquities there is a 15th-century chair upon which Henry VII was crowned after the

Battle of Bosworth The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 Au ...

in 1485, a table owned by Sir Everard Digby (cousin to the Digbys of Coleshill) around which the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sough ...

was planned in 1605, and a 'Whispering Door' (two doors with a common jamb) brought from

Kenilworth Castle Kenilworth Castle is a castle in the town of Kenilworth in Warwickshire, England managed by English Heritage; much of it is still in ruins. The castle was founded during the Norman conquest of England; with development through to the Tudor pe ...

. The present family, the Fetherston-Dilkes, first came into possession in the 17th century. During the Civil War Maxstoke was garrisoned for Parliament. The first known Governor of Maxstoke Castle in 1642/43 was a Captain Layfield. The garrison musters reveal that between March 1644 to October 1645, the Captain of the garrison was Mr Henry Kendall Sen. lord of the manor of Austrey. His son Henry Kendall Jun. was his lieutenant. The garrison included several of their Austrey tenants: William Smart (a joiner's son), Henry Orton, Henry Spencer and John Crispe.P.R.O. Exchequer SP28/121A-122. In the 18th century William Dilke of Maxstoke married Mary Fetherstone-Leigh of

Packwood House Packwood House is a timber-framed Tudor manor house in Packwood on the Solihull border near Lapworth, Warwickshire. Owned by the National Trust since 1941, the house is a Grade I listed building. It has a wealth of tapestries and fine fur ...

near Knowle. Since then the two families and houses have been closely linked.

Current

Maxstoke Castle is opened to the public annually (usually in mid-June), in aid of local charities tours for interested historical groups can be booked year round. It is a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

and a

Grade I listed building 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 ...

. The parkland of Maxstoke has been a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

since 1898. At one time, the land was listed as a deer park and

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

can still be seen there.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures completed in 1345 Houses completed in the 14th century Grade I listed buildings in Warwickshire Country houses in Warwickshire Scheduled monuments in Warwickshire

History

Current

See also

References