Castle in Wiltshire

Castle Combe in the Cotswolds of Wiltshire has been described on several occasions as the most beautiful village in England, a title it shares with several competitors but wears with some justification given the particular perfection of its combination of Cotswold stone buildings, the Bybrook stream running through the lower village and the complete absence of any intrusive modern development that might disturb the essentially medieval character of its streets and buildings. The village was used as a location for the filming of Doctor Dolittle in 1967 and various other productions since, and the absence of television aerials, satellite dishes and modern shop fronts from the main street reflects the village's commitment to maintaining its historic character. The village developed its prosperity during the medieval and Tudor periods as a cloth-making centre, and the wealth generated by the wool trade funded the building of the handsome Perpendicular Gothic church of St Andrew, the market cross and the stone-built cottages along the main street that create the streetscape for which Castle Combe is celebrated. The church contains memorials to the de Dunstanville family, who gave the village its name from the castle that stood above it in the Norman period, and to other local families who benefited from and contributed to the medieval prosperity of the settlement. The lower village, where the Bybrook flows between stone-built cottage gardens and beneath an ancient packhorse bridge, is the most picturesque section and provides the views most reproduced in Cotswold tourism literature. The combination of the stream, the bridge, the mill and the cottages in a narrow valley setting creates a scene of particular concentrated beauty that is most rewarding in the early morning before the visitor traffic of the day begins. The Castle Combe motor racing circuit, confusingly, is located at a considerable distance from the village and bears no visual relationship to the historic settlement.

Situated 15 miles from the city of Salisbury, Old Wardour Castle is set in a countryside location beside a lake. The ruins of the virtually destroyed castle are now integrated into the surrounding parkland of the 'New Wardour House' but consist solely of part of the main building with its beautiful arched windows. The new castle was built as a Neoclassical house rather than a castle, with a symmetrical main block, central staircase hall and two wings. Facilities The castle and shop are open daily from 10am from April until October and at weekends between November and March. Included in the price of the entrance ticket is an audio tour telling of the castles eventful past, visitors will also be able to climb to the top of the turrets and re-enact scenes from one of the recent films that have been made there. The New Wardour House is not open to the public. The castle was built by the St Martin family in 1392 using local Tisbury greensand; a green sandstone rock. It was built by master mason William Wynford in an unusual design with six sides, similar to those in continental Europe. In 1461 the castle was confiscated and after passing through many hands was bought by the Arundell's, an ancient Cornish family. The castle was once again confiscated when Sir Thomas Arundell was executed in 1552 for treason, but his son Matthew was able to buy back the castle some time later. During the Civil War the lady of the house, Lady Blanche aged 61, was alone with her husband was away on the King's business, when the parliamentarians came looking for Royalists. The castle was subjected to a five day siege after which she was forced to surrender before the castle was totally destroyed. In 1644 Henry, 3rd Lord Arundell retaliated by blowing up what remained of the castle and causing the parliamentarian garrison to surrender. Henry then went about borrowing money to have the castle rebuilt, but instead employed James Paine to build 'New Wardour Castle' in a Palladian style, leaving the old castle as a feature within the grounds. The Arts Both Old Wardour and the New Wardour House have been used as film sets, Old Wardour in 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves', staring Kevin Costner in 1991, and New Wardour as the Community Hall in the film Billy Elliot with Julie Walters in 2000.

Old Sarum is a dramatic hilltop site near Salisbury in Wiltshire combining an Iron Age hillfort, a Norman castle, a Norman cathedral and the ghost of a medieval city within a single extraordinary monument. The site was occupied continuously from the Iron Age through the Norman period and into the medieval town that eventually decamped to New Sarum, the present city of Salisbury, leaving Old Sarum as a deserted hilltop of extraordinary archaeological and historical interest. The Norman castle on the central motte and the foundations of the first Salisbury Cathedral, replaced by the present cathedral in the valley below, can be explored within the large earthwork enclosure. Old Sarum was also the most notorious of England's rotten boroughs, returning two MPs to Parliament despite having virtually no inhabitants, until the Reform Act of 1832. Managed by English Heritage, the site provides exceptional views over the Wiltshire downs.

Ludgershall Castle is a ruined royal castle and hunting palace situated in the village of Ludgershall in Wiltshire, England. It stands as one of the more underappreciated medieval monuments in the south of England, an English Heritage site that offers visitors a genuinely atmospheric encounter with a place that was once a favoured retreat of medieval English royalty. Though its walls no longer rise to their original height and much of its former grandeur has been reclaimed by grass and time, the site retains a commanding presence and a sense of layered history that rewards those who take the time to visit. Entry is free, which makes it something of a hidden gem among the region's heritage offerings. The castle's origins date to the late eleventh century, shortly after the Norman Conquest. It was likely founded by Edward of Salisbury, a powerful Norman lord, and was built as a motte-and-bailey fortification in the classic style of early Norman castle construction. By the twelfth century, the site had passed into royal hands and became increasingly significant as a hunting lodge and palace, owing to its proximity to the vast medieval hunting forests of Chute and Savernake. Henry I, Henry II, and King John all made use of the castle, and it became a place where the court could retreat for the pleasures of the hunt. King John in particular was known to be fond of the place, visiting on multiple occasions during his troubled reign. The castle was substantially developed in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, with the addition of towers, a great hall, and other domestic ranges befitting its status as a royal residence rather than purely a military stronghold. After the thirteenth century, the castle fell into gradual decline as royal taste and administrative priorities shifted elsewhere. Edward I and Edward II made occasional use of it, but by the fourteenth century it had largely been abandoned as a functioning royal residence. The stonework was progressively robbed out over subsequent centuries, its dressed stone recycled for other local building projects — a fate shared by countless medieval structures across England. By the post-medieval period it had become the picturesque ruin it remains today, its earthworks and flint rubble walls standing quietly at the edge of the modern village. Physically, the site is defined by its impressive earthworks — substantial raised banks and ditches that speak clearly to the original defensive intent of the castle layout — alongside the remains of two principal towers, the better preserved of which is a large flint-built rectangular structure that still rises to a considerable height and gives a real sense of the castle's former scale. The masonry is rough and honest, built in the local flint and rubble style typical of medieval construction in chalk downland areas. Walking around the site on a clear day, with the wind moving across the open ground and jackdaws calling from the surviving stonework, produces a strong feeling of the passage of time. The grass is well maintained and the site is peaceful, rarely crowded, with an intimacy that more famous castles often lack. The village of Ludgershall itself is a modest but pleasant community on the edge of Salisbury Plain, and the castle sits on its northern fringe. The surrounding landscape is the quintessential chalk downland of Wiltshire — wide open skies, rolling fields, and a sense of spaciousness that has defined this part of England for millennia. Nearby Tidworth is a significant British Army garrison town, and the military presence is a feature of this part of Wiltshire more broadly. Andover lies roughly six miles to the south, while Marlborough and the Kennet valley are accessible to the north. The proximity to Salisbury Plain means the area has a long and complex relationship with both ancient and modern military history. For practical visiting, Ludgershall Castle is freely accessible and managed by English Heritage, though unlike many English Heritage properties it does not have a staffed visitor centre or on-site facilities. There is parking available in the village, and the castle is a short walk from the village centre. It is open during reasonable daylight hours throughout the year. The site is largely flat and accessible on foot, though the earthworks themselves involve some gentle slopes. The best times to visit are spring and summer when the site is at its most pleasant, though autumn visits have their own melancholy beauty amid the fallen leaves. It is a site that suits quiet, contemplative visitors — those who appreciate ruins for what they are rather than expecting museum-style interpretation at every turn. One of the more intriguing aspects of Ludgershall Castle's history is how thoroughly it has been overlooked given its genuine royal pedigree. A place that hosted multiple English monarchs and served as a significant administrative centre during the height of Plantagenet power is today known mainly to local residents and dedicated medieval history enthusiasts. Archaeological work carried out at the site in the twentieth century confirmed much of what historical documents had suggested about its layout and phasing, revealing evidence of substantial domestic buildings and refining understanding of how the castle developed over time. That combination of royal history, fine surviving earthworks, free admission, and relative obscurity makes Ludgershall Castle a genuinely rewarding destination for anyone with an interest in England's medieval past.