Beeston Castle

Beeston Castle is a former Royal castle in Beeston, Cheshire, England (grid reference SJ537593), perched on a rocky sandstone crag 350 feet (107 m) above the Cheshire Plain. It was built in the 1220s by Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester (1170–1232), on his return from the Crusades. In 1237, Henry III took over the ownership of Beeston, and it was kept in good repair until the 16th century, when it was considered to be of no further military use, although it was pressed into service again in 1643, during the English Civil War. The castle was slighted (partly demolished) in 1646, in accordance with Cromwell's destruction order, to prevent its further use as a bastion. During the 18th century, parts of the site were used as a quarry.

The castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument owned and managed by English Heritage. The walls of the outer bailey and the gatehouse and curtain walls of the inner bailey are recorded separately in the National Heritage List for England as designated Grade I listed buildings. A legend states that the royal treasure of Richard II was buried in the castle grounds but many searches have failed to discover the hoard.

Text adapted from “Beeston Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Beeston Castle ranks #829 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #62 of the 329 mapped in England. Founded 1220, it is older than 75% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 825 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 4,211 times in the last 60 days, more than 82% of the atlas. 8 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Wrexham, 22 km away. See how England compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗