Stokesay Castle is one of the finest surviving fortified manor houses in England, and situated at Stokesay in Shropshire. It was largely built in its present form in the late 13th century by Laurence of Ludlow, on the earlier castle founded by its original owners the de Lacy family, from whom it passed to their de Verdun heirs, who retained feudal overlordship of Stokesay until at least 1317. Laurence 'of' Ludlow was one of the leading wool merchants in England, who intended it to form a secure private house and generate income as a commercial estate. Laurence's descendants continued to own the castle until the 16th century, when it passed through various private owners. By the time of the outbreak of the First English Civil War in 1642, Stokesay was owned by William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven (1608–1697), a supporter of King Charles I. After the Royalist war effort collapsed in 1645, Parliamentary forces besieged the castle in June and quickly forced its garrison to surrender. Parliament ordered the property to be slighted, but only minor damage was done to the walls, allowing Stokesay to continue to be used as a house by the Baldwyn family until the end of the 17th century.
Beaumaris Castle, in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales, was built as part of Edward I's campaign to conquer north Wales after 1282. Plans were probably first made to construct the castle in 1284, but this was delayed due to lack of funds and work only began in 1295 following the Madog ap Llywelyn uprising. A substantial workforce was employed in the initial years under the direction of James of St George. Edward's invasion of Scotland soon diverted funding from the project, however, and work stopped, only recommencing after an invasion scare in 1306. When work finally ceased around 1330 a total of £15,000 had been spent, a huge sum for the period, but the castle remained incomplete.
Criccieth Castle is a ruined thirteenth-century castle in Criccieth, Gwynedd, Wales. It is located on a rocky headland overlooking Tremadog Bay and consists of an inner ward almost surrounded by an outer ward. The twin-towered inner gatehouse is the most prominent remaining feature and survives to almost its full height, as does the inner curtain wall. The outer curtain wall, the inner ward buildings, and the castle's other three towers are significantly more ruinous, and in places survive only as foundations.
Bodiam Castle is a 14th-century moated castle near Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II, ostensibly to defend the area against French invasion during the Hundred Years' War. Of quadrangular plan, Bodiam Castle has no keep, having its various chambers built around the outer defensive walls and inner courts. Its corners and entrance are marked by towers, and topped by crenellations. Its structure, details and situation in an artificial watery landscape indicate that display was an important aspect of the castle's design as well as defence. It was the home of the Dalyngrigge family and the centre of the manor of Bodiam.
Little Moreton Hall, also known as Old Moreton Hall, is a moated half-timbered manor house 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south-west of Congleton in Cheshire, England. The earliest parts of the house were built for the prosperous Cheshire landowner William Moreton in about 1504–08 and the remainder was constructed in stages by successive generations of the family until about 1610. The building is highly irregular, with three asymmetrical ranges forming a small, rectangular cobbled courtyard. A National Trust guidebook describes Little Moreton Hall as being "lifted straight from a fairy story, a gingerbread house." The house's top-heavy appearance, "like a stranded Noah's Ark", is due to the Long Gallery that runs the length of the south range's upper floor.
Caus Castle is a ruin of a hill fort and medieval castle in the civil parish of Westbury in the English county of Shropshire. It is situated up on the eastern foothills of the Long Mountain guarding the route from Shrewsbury, Shropshire to Montgomery, Powys, on the border between England and Wales. It was destroyed during the English Civil War and has been in ruins since.
Scarborough Castle is a former medieval royal fortress situated on a rocky promontory overlooking the North Sea and Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. The site of the castle, encompassing the Iron Age settlement, Roman signal station, an Anglo-Scandinavian settlement and chapel, the 12th-century enclosure castle and 18th-century battery, is a scheduled monument of national importance.
Cawood Castle is a grade I listed building in Cawood, a village in North Yorkshire, England. The surviving fifteenth-century structures formed part of a fortified medieval palace belonging to the Archbishops of York, which was dismantled in the aftermath of the English Civil War.
Wardour Castle or Old Wardour Castle is a ruined 14th-century castle at Wardour, on the boundaries of the civil parishes of Tisbury and Donhead St Andrew in the English county of Wiltshire, about 15 miles (24 km) west of Salisbury. The castle was built in the 1390s, came into the ownership of the Arundells in the 16th century, and was rendered uninhabitable in 1643 and 1644 during the Civil War. A Grade I listed building, it is managed by English Heritage and open to the public.
Launceston Castle is located in the town of Launceston, Cornwall, England. It was probably built by Robert the Count of Mortain after 1068, and initially comprised an earthwork and timber castle with a large motte in one corner. Launceston Castle formed the administrative centre of the new earldom of Cornwall, with a large community packed within the walls of its bailey. It was rebuilt in stone in the 12th century and then substantially redeveloped by Richard of Cornwall after 1227, including a high tower to enable visitors to view his surrounding lands. When Richard's son, Edmund, inherited the castle, he moved the earldom's administration to Lostwithiel, triggering the castle's decline. By 1337, the castle was increasingly ruinous and used primarily as a gaol and to host judicial assizes.
Moreton Corbet is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Moreton Corbet and Lee Brockhurst, in the Shropshire district, in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. The village's toponym refers to the Corbet family, the local landowners.
Brampton Bryan Castle is a ruined medieval castle in the village of Brampton Bryan in north-western Herefordshire, England, 50m south of the River Teme. The castle guarded an important route from Ludlow along the Teme Valley to Knighton and on into Central Wales.
Goodrich Castle is a Norman medieval castle ruin north of the village of Goodrich in Herefordshire, England, controlling a key location between Monmouth and Ross-on-Wye. It was praised by William Wordsworth as the "noblest ruin in Herefordshire" and is considered by historian Adrian Pettifer to be the "most splendid in the county, and one of the best examples of English military architecture".
Marmion Tower, also known historically as Tanfield Castle, is a 15th-century gatehouse near the village of West Tanfield in North Yorkshire, England. It survived the destruction of the surrounding fortified manor and is now managed by English Heritage.
Warkworth Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Warkworth in the English county of Northumberland. The village and castle occupy a loop of the River Coquet, less than a mile from England's north-east coast. When the castle was founded is uncertain: traditionally its construction has been ascribed to Prince Henry of Scotland, Earl of Northumbria, in the mid-12th century, but it may have been built by King Henry II of England when he took control of England's northern counties. Warkworth Castle was first documented in a charter of 1157–1164 when Henry II granted it to Roger fitz Richard. The timber castle was considered "feeble", and was left undefended when the Scots invaded in 1173.
Sir Vincent Corbet, 1st Baronet was an English lawyer and politician who sat for Shropshire in the House of Commons in the Short Parliament of 1640. He fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War.
Whorlton Castle is a ruined medieval castle situated near the abandoned village of Whorlton in North Yorkshire, England. It was established in the early 12th century as a Norman motte-and-bailey associated with the nearby settlement. The castle is an unusual example of a motte-and-bailey that remained in use throughout the Middle Ages and into the early modern period.
The siege of High Ercall Hall in High Ercall, Shropshire, England took place during the First English Civil War. There were a total of three sieges. In each of the sieges, the Hall was held by the Royalists and besieged by the Parliamentarians. The final and longest siege took place from July 1645 to March 1646, when the Royalist commander surrendered the hall to the Parliamentarians.
Hemyock Castle is a ruined 14th-century castle in the village of Hemyock, Devon, England. It was built by Sir William Asthorpe after 1380 to a quadrangular design. It would have been visually impressive, but not particularly functional, with various intrinsic flaws. By the 16th century it had fallen into ruin and, following its use during the English Civil War in the mid-17th century, it was pulled down (slighted). In the 21st century the site is occupied by the fragments of the original castle; and Castle House, an 18th-century house built within the site, and restored as private home at the end of the 20th century.
Moreton Corbet and Lee Brockhurst is a civil parish in Shropshire, England. It contains 45 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, three are listed at Grade I, the highest of the three grades, two are at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade. The parish contains the villages and smaller settlements of Acton Reynald, Moreton Corbet, Lee Brockhurst, and Preston Brockhurst, and the surrounding countryside. Most of the listed buildings are houses and cottages, farmhouses and farm buildings and associated structures, the earliest of which are timber framed. The other listed buildings include churches, memorials, a ruined castle and mansion, country houses and associated structures, a former watermill, a bridge, and two mileposts.
