Chesterton Castle

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Chesterton Castle
Staffordshire, England
Site information
Type Motte-and-bailey castle
Site history
BuiltBefore 1180 [1]
Materials Limestone [2]
DemolishedShortly after 1597 [2]

Chesterton Castle was a motte-and-bailey castle in Chesterton, Staffordshire, England which has no surviving remains existing today. [3]

Contents

History

Newcastle-under-Lyme Castle (pictured here) replaced Chesterton Castle during the early 12th century. Newcastle Under Lyme Castle Remains - geograph.org.uk - 6500299.jpg
Newcastle-under-Lyme Castle (pictured here) replaced Chesterton Castle during the early 12th century.

Chesterton Castle was built probably atop the mound of a former Anglo-Saxon burh and it is known that Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester owned the timber castle in 1180. [1] Additions were made to the castle shortly before King John visited in 1206, [5] and it was later usurped by Newcastle-under-Lyme Castle when the town of the same name grew up around the castle during the early 12th century. [4]

King Henry III took the castle from the Earl of Leicester and gave it along with the Earldom to his son Edmund Crouchback in 1267. [1] [6] It was later rebuilt in stone. [2]

Sampson Erdeswicke visited Chesterton Castle in 1597 and mentioned that 'a little lower stands Chesterton, where are to be seen the ruins of a very ancient town or castle, there yet remaining some rubbish of lime and stone'. [2] The ruins were demolished during the 16th century and the site is today unknown. [4]

Description

Chesterton Castle was built initially using timber but was later constructed using limestone (lime and stone). [2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Chesterton under Lyme". Gatehouse Gazzetteer. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Erdeswicke, Sampson (1597). A Survey of Staffordshire: Containing the Antiquities of that County. Thomas Harwood (1767–1842); William Salt (1805–1863) (New ed.; considerably improved ed.). London: J. B. Nichols and Son.
  3. ↑ King, D.J.C., (1983), Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 450-1
  4. 1 2 3 Goodwin, Jenna (28 January 2023). "A New Castle, Built in the 12th Century, Is What Gives Newcastle-Under-Lyme Its Name". The Red Haired Stokie. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  5. ↑ Mackenzie, J.D., (1896). Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 1 p. 393
  6. ↑ Baines, Edward (1868). The History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster. G. Routledge and Sons. Retrieved 20 July 2023 – via Google Books.
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