Old Wardour Castle: A Fourteenth-Century Castle in Wiltshire
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.7
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- English
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page16 sections
History
Old Wardour Castle is a ruined fourteenth-century castle in the United Kingdom, at Wardour in Wiltshire near Tisbury and approximately 24 kilometres west of Salisbury. Its construction was authorised by King Richard II in the 1390s, and its unusual six-sided design reflects castle forms fashionable in parts of continental Europe.
The Lovell Castle
The site belonged to the St Martin family until Sir Lawrence de St Martin died in 1385. Later that year, John Lovell, fifth Baron Lovell, acquired the property. In 1392 or 1393, Richard II granted Lovell permission to build a castle there. Construction followed during the 1390s, with William Wynford serving as master mason.
The Lovell family lost Wardour after supporting the Lancastrian cause during the Wars of the Roses, the fifteenth-century conflicts between the rival royal houses of Lancaster and York. The property was confiscated in 1461 and passed through several owners before Sir Thomas Arundell of Lanherne bought it in 1544.
The Arundell Alterations
Sir Thomas Arundell, a prominent Roman Catholic landowner, was executed for treason in 1552, and the castle was confiscated again. His son, Sir Matthew Arundell, recovered the property in 1570. He later served as Sheriff and Custos Rotulorum of Dorset, a senior county office responsible for keeping county records.
During the 1570s, Matthew Arundell substantially reshaped the medieval castle. The work enlarged the windows and added classical doorways and niches. It was probably complete by about 1578, the year placed above the entrance. Most of the medieval windows and doors were replaced during this remodelling, while the castle’s older structure continued to define the residence.
Siege and Destruction
The Arundells remained prominent Roman Catholic landowners and supported the Royalist cause during the English Civil War, the conflict between supporters of Charles I and Parliament. Thomas Arundell, second Baron Arundell of Wardour, was away on the king’s business when he entrusted the castle’s defence to his 61-year-old wife, Lady Blanche Arundell, and 25 trained soldiers.
On 2 May 1643, Sir Edward Hungerford arrived with 1,300 Parliamentarian troops and demanded entry to search for Royalists. When entry was refused, his forces besieged the castle with guns and mines. After five days of attack and the threat of complete destruction, Lady Blanche surrendered. Colonel Edmund Ludlow then took command of the garrison.
Thomas Arundell died from wounds received at the Battle of Stratton later in May 1643. His son, Henry Arundell, third Baron Arundell of Wardour, assembled a Royalist force to retake Wardour. By November, he had blockaded the castle, mined it, and blown up much of the structure. The Parliamentarian garrison surrendered in March 1644, and the damaged castle could no longer serve as a residence.
From Residence to Ruin
The Arundell family gradually recovered its position during the Commonwealth and after the Glorious Revolution. The family returned to Wardour in the 1680s after abandoning the damaged castle in 1644. Henry Arundell, eighth Baron Arundell of Wardour, later borrowed funds to finance a new residence.
James Paine built New Wardour Castle some distance to the north-west. The family moved there, while Old Wardour Castle was retained as an ornamental and deliberately romantic ruin within the parkland rather than rebuilt as a functioning residence. The Arundells continued developing the estate and built the Banqueting House outside the castle walls in 1773–1774.
Old Wardour Castle is managed by English Heritage and protected as a Grade I listed building. The combined Wardour Castle and Old Wardour Castle park and garden is also entered on the national register of historic parks and gardens at Grade II* level.
Remains
Castle Layout and Defences
Built from locally quarried Tisbury greensand, the castle follows a six-sided plan inspired by hexagonal castles fashionable in parts of continental Europe, particularly France. The design has been described as unique in Britain, and its self-contained guest suites were also unusual in Britain at the time. The medieval building stood on the crest of a low ridge, where the ground fell more steeply than it does today because the ground level was substantially altered around the eighteenth century.
Entrance Defences
The main approach crossed a deep defensive ditch by drawbridge and entered through a portcullis, a vertically sliding fortified gate. Between the towers, at battlement level, a projecting gallery or barbican, meaning a defensive structure protecting an entrance, helped defend the main portal.
Main Portal
Above the entrance are the Arundell coat of arms and an inscription commemorating the family’s possession of Wardour. Sir Matthew Arundell installed them in 1578. A niche above the arms contains the head of Christ and the inscription, “Sub nomine tuo stet genus et domus.”
Central Courtyard
The central courtyard is hexagonal and was enclosed by buildings of four or five storeys. The south-west side was blown up during the Civil War, leaving the courtyard more open, light, and spacious than it had previously been. A well stands at its centre. Evidence from comparable castles suggests that the well may originally have carried an elaborate carved and painted roof bearing the emblems of the Lovell and Arundell families.
Residential Interiors
Great Hall
A stairway and passage led from the courtyard to the great hall, the household’s formal gathering place for feasts and other special occasions. A wooden screen with arched openings stood between the approach and the hall. Wall hangings concealed the mechanisms controlling two portcullises.
Matthew Arundell refurbished the great hall during the 1570s. The changes included a musicians’ gallery above the screen, a remodelled fireplace, wooden panelling replacing hangings and banners, and a redesigned doorway to the lobby. The tall windows and old wooden roof were retained.
Lobby and Upper Rooms
The narrow lobby was used to serve guests sweetmeats after meals while the great hall was cleared for dancing. During the 1570s, Matthew Arundell added fireplaces and altered the staircase in the north tower to provide a more private approach to the upper rooms.
The upper chambers had elaborate wooden roofs and tall windows overlooking the surrounding landscape, together with another opening toward the courtyard. In 1605, these rooms were converted into a long gallery with numerous windows, following the fashion for galleries on the upper floors of Elizabethan houses.
Later Estate Buildings
Banqueting House
The Banqueting House was built outside the castle walls in 1773–1774 for entertaining guests. Its architectural attribution is uncertain, and its contemporary neo-Gothic design differs from the medieval castle and its sixteenth-century alterations. The building contains a coloured-marble open fireplace that came from a smaller house. Its present stained-glass windows probably came from the chapel at New Wardour Castle after that chapel was refurbished in 1786. In 2023, the Banqueting House was used as an exhibition centre.
Grotto and Stone Circle
Josiah Lane of Tisbury built the grotto in 1792 from brick, plaster, and stones taken from the castle ruins. The artificial cave was designed with dripping water, fossils, and ferns. Beside it stands a small stone circle containing three standing stones removed from the now-vanished Tisbury stone circle.
