Why warwick castle was built

When it became clear that Edward would not last, Dudley arranged for his son to marry Lady Jane Grey who had a tenuous claim to the throne and Edward inexplicably named as his heir in his will. In law we would call that undue influence. Lady Jane rules for only nine days, is imprisoned and executed as is Dudley. Another Earl of Warwick goes down flames. By now the English monarchs have figured out that giving Warwick Castle to powerful noblemen is not the best of ideas and split the title of Earl of Warwick from ownership of the castle.

Sir Fulke is murdered by a disgruntled servant in his London home, but for reasons no ghost hunter has been able to explain to me, decides to haunt Warwick Castle instead of the site of his murder. In the castle is besieged, unsuccessfully, by Royalist troops and that appears to end its time as an actual defensive fortress.

Over the years it has been visited by many ruling monarchs including Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria and the present Queen. The sale in was to the Tussaud Group which subsequently went through amalgamations with other entertainment companies and is now the Merlin Entertainments, which also owns various Legolands and of course, the Madame Tussaud wax museums.

The present owners make no apologies for turning Warwick Castle into, in effect, a theme park, but I am anxious to see if that detracts from the historical significance of the place.

Visiting Warwick Castle has lots of options, but for those whose primary interest is the castle and grounds and not things like the Haunted Castle or the Dungeon which are separate attractions with a higher entry fee, I would suggest the following over a three hour visit.

This is the castle entrance with me standing like a dolt in the shade rather than on the sunny side. After crossing the moat, now dry, you go through the gatehouse with its raised portcullis to the huge inner courtyard that you can see very well on the aerial photograph at the beginning of this post.

On the left is the castle proper and here you enter the great hall and follow a designated route throughout. The Great Hall is truly impressive with great displays of weapons, armour and all the things you expect in a medieval castle. One thing I learned from visiting Warwick Castle and others on the Liberation Tour is that the owners of these castles go to great lengths to make the weaponry displays not only interesting, but works of art in themselves.

These are the antlers of an Irish elk , an animal that went extinct long before Warwick Castle was built so nobody actually hunted it. There are a surprising number of Irish elk antlers to be found in medieval castles. The buildings which were burnt, and many which were not, were re-built in the handsome style of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

Skip to content. In the 17th century the grounds were turned into a garden. Warwick Castle was purchased by The Tussauds Group in and opened as a major tourist attraction. The bloody history of Warwick Castle is steeped in treachery, murder, mystery and intrigue. Established Info Services. Trebuchet in the grounds of Warwick Castle. Mock Battle in the grounds of Warwick Castle. Map of the centre of Warwick. Check Out Lastminute on Accommodation. Warwick Castle. Check Out Lastminute Accommodation.

Warwick Home Page. It is therefore possible that some kind of defensive structure existed on the site before the construction of the motte and bailey Norman castle at Warwick. Warwick Castle remained in the possession of the Beaumont family for several generations. During this period the wooden Norman structure was replaced by a stone shell keep, now no longer surviving.

The wooden palisade which surrounded the bailey was probably replaced by stone walls at the same time. Thomas Beaumont died without a male heir in and Warwick Castle was inherited by his sister Margaret Beaumont, who was married John de Plessis who assumed the 7th Earl of Warwick in her right.

It later passed to Margaret's nephew, William Mauduit. During the Baron's War, the castle was attacked by Simon de Montfort's forces the Earl and his wife taken prisoner. Maudit and his countess were taken to Kenilworth Castle , he was released after payment of a ransom but died soon after. The castle then passed to his sister's son, William de Beauchamp.

The castle remained in the hands of the Beauchamp family for almost years. They rebuilt Warwick Castle, which had suffered severe damage during the attack by de Monfort's forces.