England · Ruin
Heighley Castle
Heighley Castle (or Heleigh Castle) is a medieval castle near Madeley, Staffordshire, completed by the Audley family in 1233. It was held for Charles I and largely destroyed by Parliamentary forces in the 1640s; today only overgrown masonry fragments remain and the site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Its prime
1300
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1300
What Heighley Castle looked like in its prime.
A compact early 13th-century masonry stronghold of coursed stone set on a low, wooded rise above open pasture near Madeley. The silhouette is defined by low, thick stone curtain walls encircling an inner courtyard and a taller central stone range with steep timber roofs; the walls would read pale grey in daylight. The castle sits tightly within pasture and mature trees, the surrounding landscape visible from the ramparts.
Its story
The story of Heighley Castle.
Henry de Aldithley's Castle, Completed 1233
Heighley Castle, Heleigh in older spellings, was built by Henry de Aldithley (c.1175-1246), later written de Audley, who was Sheriff of Shropshire from 1227 to 1232 and who also built the Red Castle in that county. In 1223 he endowed the nearby Cistercian abbey of St Mary at Hulton, giving it a large amount of land, some of it an inheritance from his mother and some of it bought. The castle itself was completed by the Audley family in 1233, near Madeley in Staffordshire.
Held for Charles I, Destroyed in the 1640s
For more than three hundred years Heighley was one of the Audley family's ancestral homes. It was held for Charles I during the English Civil War, and Parliamentary forces destroyed it in the 1640s.
A Scheduled Monument Since 1952
What survives is masonry fragments, mostly overgrown by vegetation. The site has been a scheduled monument since 10 June 1952 and is protected by Grade II listed building status as well; it is privately owned and not open to visitors, and it appears on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register, described as being in 'very bad' condition.
Step inside
3 places to explore in 1300.
The record describes 3 distinct spots at Heighley Castle, including the full exterior approach. 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 Heighley Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1300, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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Clans who held Heighley Castle.
The families that held Heighley Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Audley
Completed the castle in 1233; an ancestral home of the Audleys for over 300 years.
Nearby
