Berry Pomeroy ruins (in Devon, UK)
On a wooded hill, close to the River Dart in southern Devon, lie the unusual remains of Berry Pomeroy Castle. This site was first occupied by the Pomeroy family during… Read More »Berry Pomeroy ruins (in Devon, UK)
towers
Barnard Castle
Situated along the River Tees in County Durham, Barnard Castle was originally a modest structure created by Guy de Balliol in the 11th century. Some 100 years later, Guy’s small… Read More »Barnard Castle
Ashby De La Zouch (Hastings, UK)
In the 15th century, Edward IV granted Ashby De La Zouch Castle to Lord Hastings who converted what was no more than a fortified manor house into a grand castle,… Read More »Ashby De La Zouch (Hastings, UK)
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)
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
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)
Burleigh House
Fife, Scotland, ruins of a 15th century keep with a courtyard wall with a gate and a corner tower; once a stronghold of the Balfours of Burleigh, and visited several… Read More »Burleigh House
Broadway Tower
Broadway, Worcestershire, an impressive folly tower built in 1797 at top of the 2nd highest point along the Cotswold escarpment. The height of the escarpment here is 1024 feet (312m).… Read More »Broadway Tower
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.