A wet morning but I decided to do a favourite section of the Sandstone Trail and have a walk near Tarporley and take in a visit to Beeston Castle.
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| The Castle on the Rock |
The medieval ruins of Beeston Castle stand on a rocky summit 500ft above the Cheshire plain, offering stunning views from the Pennines in the east to the mountains of Wales in the west.
The fortification dates from 1225 when it was built by Ranulf, the sixth Earl of Chester, and contains one of the deepest castle wells in the country.
The castle was seized by King Henry III in 1237 and used by him and later his son, King Edward I, as a base for their campaigns against the Welsh.
The castle was finally destroyed at the end of the Civil War.
Beeston Castle has commanding views over the Cheshire Plains and was ideal for defending the English border against the Welsh - with points around the compass; To the north - the Shropshire Union Canal, to the north east - Jodrell Bank radio telescopes, to the east - the Pennine Hills, due south - Shropshire's Wrekin Hill and the privately owned Peckforton Castle, to the west - the Welsh Mountains and to the north west Chester and Liverpool.
During the English Civil War, Beeston Castle was an important stronghold, playing an major part in the fighting in Cheshire, being occupied by both warring sides (Parliamentarians - the Roundheads and Royalists - the Cavaliers) at different times between 1642 and 1646.
Today Beeston Castle has a modern - mock castle - gatehouse and the site is walled. The whole area is slowly becoming naturalised with birch, rowan, oak and bracken but English Heritage have plans to control the growth and return the land features to the 13th century landscape. Ravens and lately Peregrine Falcons nest on the near vertical rock crags.
21 comments:
wow. that view is FANTASTIC! such history - 1200s!!! wow! that is SO neat!
HI Andrew...I looked at the web site...don't think I'll be going there anytime ,but very informative and great place to take the family!!
I really love your post of this great history...well... I really enjoy your funny ones to..like squirrels climbing your pant legs : }
Very nice...your photos so..so,gorgeous scenery , and to be able to capture what is left of what of so many years....unbelievable!!
Thanks for sharing so much, for this I would never see!! ♥ Grace
Loved this 'tour'! I am new to your blog and think I'll stick around a bit. Great shots.
Cool series! Amazing to imagine having history that goes that far back. Needless to say, our American West "old" structures don't date back very far.
Wonderfully interesting post Andrew. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
What a fantastic tour! What about to go there late evening? No castles on the rock without ghosts!
Built to impress indeed. One of the most impressive castle positions that I've seen.
Very interesting post and beautiful scenery!
Beautiful scenery and photos! Thanks for the lovely tour.
Hi there - I think that leaving the UK made me notice just of remarkable these sorts of places are. The fact that we had a roman fort just down the road from school seemed normal - but now that I am here, it seems as remarkable as it actually really was!
Stewart M - Australia
I have never seen this type of place before in Sri Lanka.
Thanks for visiting http://wwwmysrilanka.blogspot.com
I love Castles. A very interesting post and grand photos, Andrew!
this is the kind of place that I can never figure out if I like or not. They are facinating, yet gives me the creep. Great shots though.
I would love to see this! We visited England and Ireland last year. I couldn't get over the number of castle ruins. They are amazing structures with so many stories to tell.
An amazing series of photos, Andrew. Love the history you provided with each. :)
Interesting post Andrew. The view is as they say - to die for.
It's a shame it was destroyed. I like the mock up though.
Very interesting post! The views from the castle site are magnificent.
I like the atmosphere in ruins, the silence there seems to speak a lot.
You go for the best walks in the world Andrew! This one is beautiful and it's great getting the history in such a lovely way. Are you happy at what the English Heritage plans are?
It's just wonderful! And what a view.
Must be great to have such historical places to visit! Here in northern Sweden we dont have that kind of places. Have a nice sunday!
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