Colchester Castle Park
Essex, a Norman castle keep with a fine museum of Roman and medieval times. Photo gallery from Colchester Castle.
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York, Clifford’s Tower
North Yorkshire, a 13th century keep on one of the two mottes which were part of the fortifications started by William the Conqueror in 1068. Fine views over the city… Read More »York, Clifford’s Tower
Chirk Castle (pics)
Photo gallery here Clwyd, Wales, was founded about 1295 as a stronghold for Edward I’s army captain Roger Mortimer, thus becoming one of the great fortresses of Edward’s reign; it… Read More »Chirk Castle (pics)
Haunted Chillingham Castle (pics)
Photo gallery here. Alnwick, Northumberland, supposedly Britain’s Most Haunted Castle , was already there in 1255 when King Henry III stayed there; in 1344 Sir Thomas Grey was granted the… Read More »Haunted Chillingham Castle (pics)
Menzies Hotel
Photo Gallery Castle Menzies. Weem, Perthshire, Scotland, is an excellent and large example of a Z-plan fortified Tower House with flanking towers at diagonally opposite corners and has been the… Read More »Menzies Hotel
Castell Carreg Cennen
South Wales, on a remote crag about 100 meters above the river Cennen in the Breacon Beacons National Park, was started in 13th century as an English outpost by one… Read More »Castell Carreg Cennen
Caerphilly Castle (Walles)
South Wales, the largest castle in Britain after Windsor, was built in 1268-1271 by the Anglo-Norman lord, Gilbert de Clare. Surrounded by an artificial lake it was a revolutionary masterpiece… Read More »Caerphilly Castle (Walles)
Burgh Castle, Norfolk
The Roman Gariannonum, impressive walls photo of a Roman Fort from the 3rd century, built to defend the coast against Saxon raiders. Photo gallery.
Buckingham Palace, London
London, the official London residence of Britain’s sovereigns, was originally a town house owned by the Dukes of Buckingham. King George III bought Buckingham House in 1761 for his wife… Read More »Buckingham Palace, London
Braemar Castle (Scotland)
photo gallery Braemar Castle Grampian, Scotland, near the River Dee, was built in 1628 and rebuilt after the fire of 1689; purchased by the Farquharson in 1732 and still owned… Read More »Braemar Castle (Scotland)
Audley House (Essex)
Audley End. Essex, a Jacobean mansion with magnificent state rooms; ‘Capability’ Brown park.
Apsley House photo
“Number One, London”, The Wellington Museum, at London’s Hyde Park Corner, designed by Robert Adam and built 1771-78, sold in 1817 to the first Duke of Wellington; a wonderful collection… Read More »Apsley House photo
Bolsover Castle
Raised by the Peverel family in the 12thcentury, very little is known of the original castle at Bolsover. A stone Keep was built c1173, surrounded by a curtain wall with an outer bailey, but the wall was breached in 1216 during the reign of King John. Surviving fragments of this curtain wall were later incorporated in a wall walk that can be seen in the castle garden.
The castle became Crown property in 1155 when the third William Peverel fled into exile, but by 1400 it had lost its strategic importance. Years of occupation by tenants had left Bolsover Castle ruinous by the time it was purchased by Sir George Talbot in 1553. Talbot, later becoming the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, is noted for two famous associations. Firstly, his marriage to ‘Bess of Hardwick’, probably the most astute business woman of the 16th century, who owned the vast Chatsworth estates. And then his lengthy term as keeper to the exiled Mary Queen of Scots, a 16 year duty that seriously drained the family’s resources.