Beeston Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Castle of the Rock; Castle de Rupe

In the civil parish of Beeston. In the historic county of Cheshire (Modern Authority of Cheshire, 1974 county of Cheshire).

Built by Ranulf de Blundeville, 6th Earl of Chester c1220 altered late C13/early C14. Crudely coursed red sandstone. Roughly rectangular enclosure of which approximately half is now demolished. Entrance front: central gateway with D-shaped towers with lateral arrow slits and central pointed gate-arch with rebate. The left-hand turret has the voussoirs of a blocked pointed arch to the lower wall. To the left is curtain walling with the lower courses of a further D-shaped tower. To the right is a similar stretch of walling roughly repaired with rubble at its centre with a D-shaped tower slightly to the left of the right hand corner. The right hand (eastern) wall has a similar D-shaped tower to the centre of the wall. On the death of Ranulf de Blundeville's nephew the castle passed to the Crown. In the late C13 and early C14 Edward I carried out modernising alterations including raising the height of the inner bailey walls and crenellating them. By the late C16 Leland described the castle as "shattered and ruinous". In 1643 it was partially repaired and occupied by parliamentary troops and taken by Royalist forces in the same year. It was partially demolished in 1646 to prevent its repeated use as a stronghold. Archaeological evidence of Bronze and Iron age settlements on the site has been found. King suggests the large outer ward may have been a town enclosure, presumably for an abortive borough, but this suggestion has not been taken up by other authors. (Derived from PastScape and others)
The dramatic location, on the cliff top of an isolated hill, is usually described as defensive, although such a position actually makes the castle very vulnerable to being besieged by a small force. The castle was built after Ranulf had returned from Crusading in Egypt and the similarities between Beeston and some Crusader castles has been made. Ranulf was powerful Earl, had been much involved in government and had numerous powerful enemies. Was this castle built by the elderly soldier as a retreat in times of trouble or as a powerful and dramatic symbol of his Crusader and noble status?

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 55798; 55799; 55797)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ53805922

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 71073
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 1733/1/0 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Web site links
  • http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/beeston/beeston.php
    http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/castles/beeston_castle.htm
    http://www.touruk.co.uk/castles/castle_beeston.htm
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/117/beestoncastle.htm
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.139
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/beeston.html
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeston_Castle
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern) p10-12
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p13-14
    Ellis. P. (ed), 1992, Beeston Castle, Cheshire: Excavations by Laurence Keen and Peter Hough, 1968-85 (London: English Heritage Archaeological reports Vol23)
    Cullen, P.W. and Hordern, R., 1986, Castles of Cheshire (Crossbow Books) p18-21,24-6
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p66-7
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p186
    Hough, P.R., 1977, ‘Beeston Castle' Archaeological Excavations 1976 (HMSO) p24
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p559-60
    Ridgway, Maurice Hill, 1958, 'Medieval Castles' in Sylvester, D. and Nulty, G. (eds), The Historical Atlas of Cheshire (Cheshire Community Council) p24-5
    Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p115-6
    Neaverson, E., 1947, Mediaeval Castles in North Wales: A study of Sites, Water Supply and Building Stones (London) p4-5
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Barber, 1910, in Barber and Ditchfield, Memories of Old Cheshire (London) p55-7 [slight]
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p163-6
    Ormerod, G., 1882 [2edn], History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol2 p273-5
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p117-9
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p15
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol1 p27-32 http://books.google.com/books?id=D01LAAAAMAAJ
• Journal Articles
  • Hough, P.R., 1984, ‘Beeston Castle' Current Archaeology Vol8.8 p245-9
    Hough, P.R., 1982, ‘Beeston Castle: recent Archaeological research for the Department of the Environment' Cheshire Archaeological Bulletin Vol8 p22-30
    King, D.J.C., 1981, ‘Beeston Castle' 128th Annual Meeting, Chester and North East Wales, 1981 CAA, 12
    Youngs, S.M. and Clark, J., 1981, ‘Medieval Britain in 1980' Medieval Archaeology Vol25 p200 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Hough, P.R., 1979-80, ‘Beeston Castle' CBA Newsletter and Calendar Vol3 p127
    Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1979, ‘Medieval Britain in 1978' Medieval Archaeology Vol23 p260 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Hough, P.R., 1978, ‘Excavations at Beeston Castle 1975-77' Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society Vol61 p l-23
    Hough, P.R. and Davey, P.J., 1977, 'Beeston' Cheshire Archaeological Bulletin Vol5 p14-18
    Hough, P.R., 1977, ‘Beeston Castle' CBA Calendar of Excavations, summaries 1976 p3
    Hough, P.R., 1976, ‘Beeston Castle' Cheshire Archaeological Bulletin Vol4 p21
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    Dove, R.N., 1965-6, Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society Vol75-76 p103-122 [Civil War history]
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1963, 'Early castles in Wales and the Marches: a preliminary list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol112 p77-124
    Ridgeway, M.H. and King, D.J.C., 1959, 'Beeston Castle, Cheshire' Journal of the Chester and North Wales Architectural Archaeological and Historic Society Vol46 p1-23
    Ridgeway, M.H. 1957, Cheshire Historian Vol7 p35-8
    1937, Archaeological Journal Vol94 p314-5
    1910, Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol65 p171-5
    Ayrton, 1851, Journal of the Chester and North Wales Architectural Archaeological and Historic Society Vol1 p127-34
    1820, Gentleman's Magazine pt1 p201 http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015027525073
• Guidebooks
  • Liddiard, R. and McGuicken, R., 2007, Beeston Castle (London: English Heritage)
    1995, Beeston Castle (London: English Heritage)
    Weaver, J., 1987, Beeston Castle (London: English Heritage)
    Ridgeway, M.H. 1957, Beeston Castle (Cheshire) [reprint of Cheshire Historian article]
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p133-4
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/shropseng.html#ches10]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p55