England · Restored
Astwell Castle
Astwell Castle is a medieval‑origin manor house and gatehouse near Wappenham in Northamptonshire, long altered by owners in the 16th and 17th centuries. Its most recognisable feature is an embattled gatehouse tower attached to a large courtyard house with mullioned windows and vaulted ranges. The building is Grade II listed and has been partially restored in the 20th century.
Its prime
1620
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1620
What Astwell Castle looked like in its prime.
A tall embattled (crenellated) rectangular gatehouse tower stands at the entrance, attached on the left to a low west range of the manor house; the west façade is a long courtyard block with regular mullioned windows with arched lights. Walls are of coursed stone masonry and rooflines combine the castellated parapet of the tower with pitched roofs on the house; many windows have leaded lights and internal chimneypieces and a broad four‑centered arched fireplace survive. At prime the complex forms a compact courtyard house built up to an older gate tower.
Its story
The story of Astwell Castle.
Thomas Lovett II acquired Astwell on 24 April 1471, exchanging his hereditary estates in a family arrangement with his mother's cousin Dowse Billing and her husband William Brooke. The embattled gatehouse tower is of Lovett's time, and a deer park was created in 1547; under later owners in the Lovett and Shirley families a courtyard house of over forty rooms accumulated in the 16th and 17th centuries, of which only a fragment with mullioned, arch-lit windows survives.
The manor descended to Washington Shirley, 5th Earl Ferrers, who sold it in 1763 to Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple. It passed to his nephew George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham, whose son, the 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, was also associated with the house. The south range was altered in the 19th century and again in 1957, when the house was remodelled and the roof timbers replaced.
On 30 November 1943 a B-17 Flying Fortress of the USAAF's 92nd Bomb Group, outbound with its squadron to bomb the industrial complex at Solingen, crashed near the farm buildings, killing all ten crew. In 2008 a wreath was laid at the site and the airmen were remembered at Helmdon parish church. Astwell Castle is a Grade II listed building.
Step inside
9 places to explore in 1620.
The record describes 9 distinct spots at Astwell Castle, including 4 interiors: spiral staircase within the gatehouse, first-floor chamber in the gatehouse with armorials, interior room with four-centered arched fireplace and frieze and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Astwell Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1620, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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Clans who held Astwell Castle.
The families that held Astwell Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Lovett
Acquired by Thomas Lovett II in 1471; the family held and enlarged the manor into the 16th century.
Shirley
Held by the Shirleys until Washington Shirley, 5th Earl Ferrers, sold it in 1763.
Grenville
Bought in 1763 by Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple; passed to the Marquess of Buckingham and the Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos.
Nearby
