Warwick Castle
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| Warwick Castle |
Warwick Castle,
Warwickshire, is a medieval castle built by William the Conqueror in 1068 and the
original wooden motte-and-bailey castle was rebuilt in stone in the 12th
century. During the Hundred Years War, the castle was refortified, resulting in
one of the most recognisable examples of 14th century military architecture. It
is recognised as the home of the most powerful family of the 15th
century: the Nevilles.
An Anglo-Saxon settlement
was established on the site in 914 with fortifications instigated by
Ethelfleda, daughter of Alfred the Great. Ethelfeda established one of ten settlements
which defended Mercia against the marauding Danes as its position allowed it to
dominate the Fosse Way, as well as the river valley and the crossing over the
River Avon. Though the motte to the south-west of the present castle is now
called "Ethelfleda's Mound", it is in fact part of the later Norman
fortifications, and not of Anglo-Saxon origin.
William the
Conqueror built a castle at Warwick in 1068 to maintain control of the Midlands
as he advanced northwards. Building a castle in a pre-existing settlement could
require demolishing properties on the intended site and four houses were torn
down to make way for the castle. William appointed Henry de Beaumont, the son
of a powerful Norman family, as constable of the castle and in 1088, de
Beaumont was made the first Earl of Warwick. He founded the Church of All
Saints within the castle walls by 1119; the Bishop of Worcester, believing that
a castle was an inappropriate location for a church, removed it in 1127–28.
In 1153, the wife
of Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick, was tricked into believing that her
husband was dead, and surrendered control of the castle to the invading army of
Henry of Anjou, later King Henry II. Roger de Beaumont died on hearing the news
that his wife had handed over the castle. Henry later returned the castle to
the Earls of Warwick as they had been supporters of his mother during the civil
war between Stephen of Blois and Empress Matilda (The Anarchy 1135–54).
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| Thomas Beaumont |
During the reign of
King Henry II the motte-and-bailey was replaced with a stone castle in which
the new castle took the form of a shell keep with all the buildings constructed
against the curtain wall. During the barons' rebellion of 1173–74, the Earl of
Warwick remained loyal to King Henry II, when the castle was used to store
provisions. The castle and the lands associated with the earldom passed down in
the Beaumont family until 1242 when Thomas de Beaumont died the castle and
lands passed to his sister, Lady Margery, countess of Warwick and when her
husband died soon afterwards she married John du Plessis in December 1242.
During the Second
Barons' War of 1264–67, William Maudit, a supporter of King Henry III and the
castle was taken in a surprise attack by the forces of Simon de Montfort, 6th
Earl of Leicester in 1264. Maudit and his wife were taken to Kenilworth Castle
and held until a ransom was paid. After his death in 1267, the title and castle
passed to his nephew William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick. Following
William's death, Warwick Castle passed through seven generations of the
Beauchamp family, who over the next 180 years made additions to the castle.
The line of
Beauchamp earls ended in 1449 when Anne de Beauchamp, 15th Countess of Warwick,
died and Richard Neville became the next Earl of Warwick through his wife's
inheritance of the title. Richard is known as The Kingmaker as he helped Edward
of York to claim the crown.
During the summer
of 1469, Neville rebelled against King Edward IV and imprisoned him in Warwick
Castle. Neville attempted to rule in the king's name however, constant protests
by the king's supporters forced the Earl to release the king. Neville was killed
at the Battle of Barnet, fighting against Edward IV in 1471.
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| George Plantagenet |
Warwick Castle then
passed to his son-in-law, George Plantagenet. George was executed in 1478 and
his lands passed onto his son Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick;
however, Edward Plantagenet was only two at his father’s execution so his lands
were taken in the custody of The Crown. After the Battle of Bosworth, Edward
Plantagenet was held in the Tower of London until he was executed for high
treason by Henry VII in 1499.
While in the care
of The Crown the castle underwent repairs and renovations using about 500 loads
of stone. The castle, as well as lands associated with the earldom, was in
Crown care from 1478 until 1547, when they were granted to John Dudley with the
second creation of the title the Earl of Warwick and during his appeal for
ownership of the castle Dudley said of the castle's condition: "... the castle of its self is not able
to lodge a good baron with his train, for all the one side of the said castle
with also the dungeon tower is clearly ruinated and down to the ground".
Warwick Castle fell into decay due to its age and neglect, and Dudley made no
repairs to the castle.
Queen Elizabeth I
visited the castle in 1566 during a tour of the country, and again in 1572 for
four nights where a timber building was erected in the castle for her to stay
in, and Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, left the castle to the Queen
during her visits. When Ambrose Dudley died in 1590 the title of Earl of
Warwick became extinct for the second time.
In 1604, the castle
was given to Sir Fulke Greville by King James I and was converted into a
country house. Whilst the castle was undergoing repairs, it was involved in the
Gunpowder Plot of 1605. The conspirators involved awaited news of their plot in
Dunchurch in Warwickshire and when they discovered the plot had failed they
stole cavalry horses from the stables at Warwick Castle to help in their
escape.
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| Fulke Greville |
When the title of
Earl of Warwick was created for the third time in 1618, the Greville family
were still in possession of Warwick Castle. Fulke Greville spent over £20,000 (around
£3 million today) renovating the castle making it "a place not only of great strength but extraordinary delight, with
most pleasant gardens, walks and thickets, such as this part of England can
hardly parallel".
On 1st September
1628 Fulke Greville was murdered in Holborn by his manservant: Ralph Haywood—a
"gentleman"—who stabbed the baron in the back after discovering he
had been left out of Greville's will. Greville died from his wounds a few days
later.
Under Robert
Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke, the castle’s defences were enhanced in 1642 in
preparation for attack during the First English Civil War when garden walls
were raised, barricades of beams & soil to
... our endeavours for taking it were to
little purpose, for we had only two small pieces of cannon which were brought
from Compton House, belonging to the Earl of Northampton, and those were drawn
up to the top of the church steeple, and were discharged at the castle, to
which they could do no hurt, but only frightened them within the castle, who
shot into the street, and killed several of our men.
The siege was
lifted on 23rd August 1642 when the garrison was relieved by the
forces of Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, and the Royalists were forced to
retreat to Worcester. After the Battle of Edgehill in 1642, prisoners were held
at Warwick Castle.
During the Second
English Civil War prisoners were again held at the castle. A garrison was
maintained in the castle complete with artillery and supplies from 1643 to
1660, at its strongest it numbered 302 soldiers. In 1660 the English Council of
State ordered the castle governor to disband the garrison and hand over the
castle to Robert Greville, 4th Baron Brooke.
The state
apartments were found to be outmoded and in poor repair. Under Roger and
William Hurlbutt, master carpenters of Warwick; extensive modernization of the
interiors was undertaken, 1669–78. To ensure that they would be in the latest
taste, William was sent down to Dorset to make careful notes of the interiors
recently finished at Kingston Lacy for Sir Ralph Bankes to designs by Sir Roger
Pratt. On 4 November 1695 the castle was in sufficient state to host a visit by
King William III.
Francis Greville,
8th Baron Brooke, undertook a renewed programme of improvements to Warwick
Castle and its grounds. The 8th Baron Brooke was also bestowed with the title
Earl of Warwick in 1759, the fourth creation of the title. With the recreation
of the title, the castle was back in the ownership of the earls of Warwick.
Daniel Garrett's work at Warwick is documented in 1748; Howard Colvin
attributed to him the Gothick interior of the Chapel. Lancelot
"Capability" Brown had been on hand since 1749. Brown, who was still
head gardener at Stowe at the time and had yet to make his reputation as the
main exponent of the English landscape garden, was called in by Lord Brooke to
give Warwick Castle a more "natural" connection to its river. Brown
simplified the long narrow stretch by sweeping it into a lawn that dropped
right to the riverbank, stopped at each end by bold clumps of native trees. A
serpentine drive gave an impression of greater distance between the front gates
and the castle entrance.
Brown's maturing
scheme in 1751 and remarked in a letter: "The
castle is enchanting. The view pleased me more than I can express; the river
Avon tumbled down a cascade at the foot of it. It is well laid out by one Brown
who has set up on a few ideas of Kent and Mr Southcote."
In 1754 the poet
Thomas Gray, a member of Walpole's Gothicising circle, commented disdainfully
on the activity at the castle:
... he [Francis Greville] has sash'd the
great apartment ... and being since told, that square sash windows were not
Gothic, he has put certain whimwams withinside the glass, which appearing
through are to look like fretwork. Then he has scooped out a little burrough in
the massy walls of the place for his little self and his children, which is
hung with paper and printed linnen, and carved chimney-pieces, in the exact
manner of Berkley-square or Argyle Buildings.
Greville
commissioned Italian painter Antonio Canaletto to paint Warwick Castle in 1747,
while the castle grounds and gardens were undergoing landscaping by Brown. Five
paintings and three drawings of the castle by Canaletto are known, making it
the artist's most often represented building in Britain. Canaletto's work on
Warwick Castle has been described as "unique
in the history of art as a series of views of an English house by a major
continental master".
Greville commissioned
Brown to rebuild the exterior entrance porch and stairway to the Great Hall. Brown
also contributed Gothick designs for a wooden bridge over the Avon.
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| The Princess Tower at Warwick Castle |
In 1802 George
Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick of the new creation, had debts amounting to £115,000
(£9 million as of 2014). The earl's estates, including Warwick Castle, were
given to the Earl of Galloway and John FitzPatrick, 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory,
in 1806, but the castle was returned to the earls of Warwick in 1813. The Great
Hall was reroofed and repaired in Gothic taste in 1830–31 by Ambrose Poynter.
Anthony Salvin was responsible for restoring the Watergate Tower in 1861–63.
The castle was extensively damaged by a fire in 1871 that started to the east
of the Great Hall. Although the Great Hall was gutted, the overall structure
was unharmed.
Restoration and
reparations carried out by Salvin during 1872–75 were subsidised by donations
from the public, which raised a total of £9,651 (£770 thousand as of 2014).
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