England · Ruin
Beaudesert Castle
Beaudesert Castle occupies a sculpted hilltop motte east of Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire. Earthwork banks, a single surviving stone and traces of two fishponds mark the site today; archaeological work has confirmed a sequence from Iron Age fort to Norman motte-and-bailey and later a 12th-century stone castle. The mound and surrounding bailey remain visible in the landscape as grassy embankments and hollows.
Its prime
1250
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1250
What Beaudesert Castle looked like in its prime.
Sited atop a pronounced earthen motte rising above a surrounding bailey, the castle in its prime presented a compact stone stronghold crowning the sculpted hill, with an enclosed courtyard defined by earthwork banks and timber service buildings against the inner bank. The motte slope led down to low defensive ditches and two fishponds set into the slope; rooflines and a small hall sat within the curtain, all constructed from local masonry and timber.
Its story
The story of Beaudesert Castle.
The high mound east of Henley-in-Arden began as an Iron Age fort, the hilltop's ancient name was Donnilee, and after the Norman Conquest the hilltop was sculpted into a motte-and-bailey with a timber hall. Around 1140 Thurston de Montfort raised a stone castle on the site, and it remained the de Montfort seat for more than a hundred years; Peter de Montfort also lived here.
The Earl of Warwick took possession of the de Montfort lands around 1369, and the castle's importance declined. Some accounts say it was repaired in 1411, but it was later abandoned. Early in the Wars of the Roses the unoccupied, decaying castle was dismantled, and its heavy timbers are said to have gone into stately houses at Henley.
A single stone and the earthworks remain, with traces of two fishponds, the motte-and-bailey banks still readable as grassy embankments and hollows. The site is a scheduled monument, and was investigated by the archaeologists of Time Team in 2002.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1250.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Beaudesert Castle, including 1 interior: hall (site of the medieval hall). Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Clans who held Beaudesert Castle.
The families that held Beaudesert Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
de Montfort
Seat of the de Montfort family from the building of the stone castle c. 1140 for more than a hundred years.
Nearby
