Astley Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Estleye

In the civil parish of Astley. In the historic county of Warwickshire (Modern Authority of Warwickshire, 1974 county of Warwickshire).

The original fortified manor house was home of Sir Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk and his daughter Lady Jane Grey. The house was dismantled in 1555, but almost immediately rebuilt. The existing house, still moated, is almost entirely C16, but there is evidence of C12 work. There were substantial alterations in C17 and again in 1820 when it was restored. The building is roughly rectangular, of 2 storeys, with embattled parapets throughout. The principal front, in which C17 and C19 inteference is marked, has 5 large stone transomed-mullioned windows, all restored, 2 of them having arched traceried heads of early C19 character. On W side is a little timber framing. The interior is wholly modernised and has no early features except for a Jacobean fireplace. There are only scanty remains, in grey and red sandstone, of the original curtain wall and gatehouse. Some portions appear to be C14, but may date from 1266, when a licence to crenellate was issued. The bailey is level and the present house is on its W side with outbuildings lining the W curtain wall. There was a manor house here from quite early times; the Astleys lived here from the time of Henry II (1154-89). There is no certainty that a castle was built here in 1266. In 1963 it was a hotel. The house was abandoned after a fire in in 1978 and is falling down. The Landmark Trust has announced a project to save the building.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1266 Oct 22.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This site is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 309103)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP31168949

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape Defra ELS number; 335947 County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number; 359

• Web site links
  • http://timetrail.warwickshire.gov.uk/detail.aspx?monuid=WA359
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/140/astleycastle.html
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/astley.html
• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p358
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p255
    Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p27
    Salter, Mike, 1992, Castles and Moated Mansions of Warwickshire (Malvern) p14-5
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p480
    Pevsner, Nikolaus and Wedgwood, Alexandra, 1966, The buildings of England: Warwickshire p75
    Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1951, VCH Warwickshire Vol6 p15-18
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Andrews, 1908, in Dryden, Memories of Old Warwickshire (London) p240-1
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p344-5
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p403
• Journal Articles
  • 2007-8, 'Astley Castle' Castle Studies Group Journal Vol21 p116-22 [news report and history]
    Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p318
    Chatwin, P.B., 1947-8, 'Castles in Warwickshire' Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol67 p25
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (1258-66) p648
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/warkseng.html#warks14]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p477