Description

MAXSTOKE CASTLE LANE
SP2289 (West side)
Castle Park
16/102 Maxstoke Castle
11/11/52
GV I
Castle. 1345. Built by Sir William de Clinton, Earl of Huntingdon, altered mid
C15 by Duke of Buckingham. Late C16 alterations to courtyard buildings following
acquisition by Sir Thomas Dilke in 1589. Squared and coursed red sandstone on
plinth with splayed upper edge. Square plan on moated site with gatehouse in
centre of east wall and an octagonal corner tower projecting well out from each
corner of the curtain wall. Embattled curtain wall with embrasures fitted for
shutters and below the embattlement a moulded cornice of mid C15 with beast
gargoyles. Single- and 2-light openings also C15, with trefoil heads in ogee
arches. In the north wall there are late C16 4-light windows some with transoms,
in square heads. Entrance bridge leads to gate house in the middle of the east
wall flanked by semi-octagonal turrets, one with leaded bell-shaped roof of
C18/C19. One C15 window of 2 cinquefoil lights in ogee arches at first and
second floors. Loop openings to the corner turrets. Outer gateway arch is
2-centred and of 2 chamfered orders. There is a rebate for the drawbridge and
sites for at least 2 other doors and a portcullis. The outer gates are C18.
Wrought iron with main gates and side standards with overthrows all enriched
with scroll and leaf ornament. The inner arch is also 2-centred and of 2
chamfered orders. The doors are C15. The gateway passage is covered by 2 bays of
tierceron vault with carved bosses at the intersection of the ribs. The west
wall has a chapel window of 5 cinquefoil lights with reticulated tracery in
2-centred arch. There are 2 other windows of 2-lights with Y-tracery in 2
centred arches and at the north end late C16 windows with mullions and transoms
in square heads. Interior: Wall-walk approached by stairways in each corner
tower with doorways in 2-centred chamfered arches. Courtyard buildings
originally extended on south, west and north walls. The corbels to carry ceiling
beams are visible in south and part of north walls. The range of buildings to
the west wall is buttressed to the courtyard, indicating the great hall at first
floor. Coursed and squared sandstone walls and slate roof. First floor windows
are C16, now blocked. At ground floor at the south end a doorway in a 2-centred
wave moulded arch with label and stops. Another doorway further to the north has
an ogee head. The south end of this range was the kitchen end and the 2-centred
doorway may have led to the former cross-passage. At the north end of the west
range a c.1820 block projects. Red brick, with hipped slate roof. 2 storeys. 2
hung sashes with pointed top panes in square heads with raised surrounds of
stone at first floor. Similar ground floor windows and doorway with panelled
door, and square head. North-west range. Late C16. Timber-framed, rendered
infill, on sandstone plinth. Slate roof. 4 bays. 3 storeys. 5-light casements,
with ovolo windows and some with transoms. One bay has late C16 projecting
octagonal 3 storey porch with part open sided ground stage on Doric columns of
wood. Interior not inspected but source material notes the following. West range
has part of original first floor Great Hall. 3 bays. The roof is concealed by
plaster coving and the walls are lined by C17 panelling. To the North was the
chapel of which the 6-light window in the curtain-wall remains. In the late C15
another first floor hall was inserted north of the chapel. The roof has
arch-braced and cambered tie beams with octagonal king-posts and 4-way struts.
The north range has principal rooms at first floor. There is a richly carved oak
lobby in the corner of the drawing-room. 2 doorways each with a doorcase of late
C16. Shafts, with pedestals and entablatures enriched with carving. Original
doors. The room is lined with C17 panelling and the fireplace in the north wall
has an overmantel in 2 bays with the panels inclosing the arms of Sir Thomas
Dilke and Anne Fisher, his wife. The flat ceiling is divided into panels by
moulded ribs with foliate bosses.
(Buildings of England: Warwickshire: p348; H. Avray Tipping: English Houses;
N.W. Alcock, P.A. Faulkner, S.R. Jones; Archaeological Journal, 1978, Vol.135;
M. Binney, Maxstoke Castle, Country Life April, 11, 18, 1974; VCH: Warwickshire,
Vol IV)

Listing NGR: SP2237089082

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Maxstoke Castle at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q6796030

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]