Medieval and Middle Ages History Timelines

Castle

Please note that the TimeRef website is currently being redesigned.

Old Wardour Castle

County	Wiltshire (6 castles)	Categories	Later Stone Keep / Baronial castle
Remains	Not complete but much survives	Access	Only open at certain times
Comments	Built in an age when castles were a statement of wealth rather than just for defence. Possibly my favourite castle. Check out the geometric design and the grotto. Was the architect trying to leave a message?
Location	51.03611,-2.089228 (Google Maps)	Directions	Directions via Google Maps

County

Wiltshire (6 castles)

Categories

Later Stone Keep / Baronial castle

Remains

Not complete but much survives

Access

Only open at certain times

Comments

Built in an age when castles were a statement of wealth rather than just for defence. Possibly my favourite castle. Check out the geometric design and the grotto. Was the architect trying to leave a message?

Location

51.03611,-2.089228

Directions

Directions via Google Maps

ld Wardour Castle was built at the end of the fourteenth century by John Lovel. The land had been owned by the St Martin family, but when Sir Lawrence de St Martin died in 1385 it was handed over to Lord Lovel for reasons unknown. Using the master mason William of Wynford, Lovel built the oddly shaped castle in 1393. The main section of the castle is hexagonal with a hexagonal inner court and a central well. The front section of the castle is rectangular that intersects the main hexagon and contains the Great Hall and large windows. The back half of the castle was destroyed in 1644 during the English Civil War, when explosions were set off underneath. The castle now belongs to English Heritage.

Location

See Also

People

Related Information

Related Maps

Map of Castles

Some strange facts about Old Wardour Castle

There appear to be some strange connections between the fourteenth century Old Wardour Castle and ancient stone circle Stonehenge. The following series of pages describe these possible connections. They could all just be coincidences or there could be a good reason for them. You can decide.

Old Wardour Castle

Overview

The construction of Old Wardour Castle began in 1393 during the reign of Richard II. It was built for John, the fifth Lord Lovell, a patron of the arts. The architect was probably William of Wynford a Master Mason who worked at Winchester Cathedral. Design based on geometry (the hexagon and square).

Stonehenge

Photo copyright: Geoff Bath

Overview

An arrangement of standing stones and earthworks constructed in several stages culminating in the Sarsen Circle between 2000 BC and 1800 BC. Its true purpose is unknown but many theories have been put forward. The stones are aligned to the summer solstice.

The First Connection - Location

The first connection I discovered that links Old Wardour Castle and Stonehenge are their locations.

As part of the investigation into alignments of ancient sites Norman Lockyer and Alfred Watkins noted that Stonehenge is part of a line of ancient monuments stretching from the Charlton Clumps to the Clearbury Ring and beyond. This alignment also includes the ancient fort of Old Sarum and the Medieval Salisbury Cathedral. Commonly referred to as leys or ley lines, these lines connecting hill forts and ancient sites can be found all over the country. If they were created by ancient people their origin and purpose is not known.

Another line of hill forts stretches from the Sidbury Camp down to the Castle Ditches. It was when I extended this line to the south-west I found that it crossed the site of Old Wardour Castle. The distance between Stonehenge and Old Wardour Castle is approximately 15 miles as the crow flies.

The diagram below shows these lines.

It was obvious that Old Wardour Castle required further investigation.

Find out more about the details of these mysterious links.

Timeline

1393

...

Construction of Wardour Castle

The work on Wardour Castle (now Old Wardour Castle) was begun in this year. The architect in charge may have been William Wynford who was responsible for the changes made to Winchester Cathedral around about the same time. The castle is very unusual in that is hexagonal and aligned to the north-east.

1643

May

Destruction of (Old) Wardour Castle

(Old) Wardour Castle was besieged by Sir Edward Hungerford and Edmund Ludlow for the Parliamentarians searching for Royalists. Lady Blanche Arundel within the castle lasted a week before surrendering. When Lord Arundell returned and found the castle in Parliamentarian control he laid siege to his own castle and had a mine detonated underneath it destroying the complete rear section of the building.

3D Virtual Reconstructions

Transport yourself back up to a thousand years and explore historical buildings as they may have appeared in the past. Built using the popular game development tool Unity 3D, these reconstructions will run in the most of the popular web browsers on your desktop or laptop computer.

Medieval people

Uncover the lives of the hundreds of kings, queens, lords, ladies, barons, earls, archbishops and rebels who made the medieval people an exciting period of history to live through.