Castles of Leicestershire and Rutland

 

Hallaton Castle is one of the best examples of a motte and bailey castle in the county, with a large conical motte and a horseshoe shaped bailey. But which of these things was NOT found by railway engineers 'excavating' the site in 1877?

 

 

The original castle at Belvoir was built in the late 11th century by Robert de Todeni, and was ruined by the 16th century.  It had a quadrangular keep and a battlemented outer wall.  The present 'castle' was built from 1655, and extensively rebuilt between 1801 and 1830 after a devastating fire.  The castle is surrounded by parkland, much of which was laid out to a design by...

 

 

This castle was built in the 12th century, on the northern end of a promiment spur of land, to the north of a medieval town. By 1564-5 it was described as ruinous.  Nichols's book of 1804 includes an illustration of surviving stonework.  Today even less survives; the earthworks were surveyed by RF Hartley in the 1980s (see above plan).  But which castle is it?

 

William Lord Hastings started work on the castle (really a fortififed manor house) in 1480.  He was beheaded in 1483 and work ceased - the castle was never finished.  The castle was built to impress, constructed from valuable brick.  The site is now run by English Heritage.  But which of the following things did the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner point out as being of particular interest?

 

Sauvey Castle is a motte and bailey castle built during the anarchistic reign of Stephen (1135-54).  The rectangular bailey measures 100m x 70m and the smaller (slightly higher) enclosure measures 60m x 40m.  A stone wall would have run around the outside of the higher enclosure, which would have contained the castle's principal buildings.  The castle has an unusual plan with few parallels nationally.  Do you know exactly what sort of castle it was?

 

Little remains of Groby Castle today, though below ground remains and earthworks were examined by the Time Team in 2010. This motte and bailey castle is thought to have been built in the late 11th century by Hugh de Grandmesnil, but in what year was it destroyed?

 

 

The manor house at Ashby de la Zouch was converted into a 'castle' in the 1470s.  The remaining buidings include a kitchen, hall/solar/service rooms block, a tower house, with earthwork remains of early post-medieval gardens to the south.  The castle is looked after by English Heritage.  What event brought about the castle's demise?

This motte and bailey castle was built by Hugh de Grantmesnil, Earl of Leicester, and is known to have been in existence by the mid 12th century. The castle was in decay by 1361 and the motte was artificially lowered prior to 1811. Today the motte has been destroyed; the southern half of the bailey survives as a flat-topped area approximately 70m in diameter.  Which castle does this plan by RF Hartley show?

 

The earliest phase of the motte and bailey castle at Oakham was probably built around 1075.  The fine arcaded stone-built hall that survives today is attributed to Walkelin de Ferrers, constructed between 1180 and 1190.  The castle was in ruins (except for the hall) by 1512.  The hall is used as a law court: a crown court has met in the castle every two years since 1229.  The hall famously contains a huge collection of...