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Chirk castle is situated on an area of higher ground close to Offa’s Dyke near Wrexham in Denbighshire. It was built by Roger Mortimer at the end of the Welsh Wars when Edward 1st was tightening his grip on Wales. As was the case with some other Marcher Castles it was not a Royal Castle but was built by a loyal supporter who was gifted the land. Chirk Castle has been occupied ever since it was completed around 1310. In fact there were a variety of occupants some of whom were executed for supporting rebellions against the Crown. A period of stability began when the Castle was acquired by Sir Thomas Myddelton in 1595. Although it saw some action in the Civil War during 1644 It remained with the Myddelton family who lived in the Castle for much of the time until 2004. It had passed to the National Trust in 1981. It is a unique example of a medieval Border Castle which remains much as it was built. There are similarities with the Royal Castle at Beaumaris on Anglesey which was built in 1294. It is a Courtyard Castle with walls and towers surrounding a central square. The furnished interiors reflect the periods during which the Castle was in use as a home but there are parts which have hardly changed since construction including some of the towers and the dungeons. The Castle is surrounded by extensive parkland and some beautifully landscaped gardens.
The Victorian fantasy castle we see today hides the complex history of Castell Coch fortresses at the head of the Taff gorge, the earliest of which was probably Norman - and wooden. This was followed by the stone edifice of the Clare family which is believed to have fallen into disuse after the damage it suffered during the early 14th century Welsh rebellion.Not until 1875 were the old ruins transformed by the architect William Burges and John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, the third marquess of Bute (a man made fantastically wealthy by the industrial growth in South Wales in the period). The pair had already collaborated on Cardiff Castle and these two buildings represent some of the finest examples of Victorian medievalism in the UK. Lord Bute, an obsessive antiquarian, was reputed to be the richest man in the world, whilst Burges used his knowledge of the great castles of Europe as well as of medieval manuscripts to influence their designs. Sadly, Burges died in 1881, ten years before Castell Coch's completion and with Lord Bute's death in 1900, the castle spent most of the subsequent years as an occasional summer residence until being handed over to the Ministry of Works in 1950 for its conservation. It is now cared for by CADW which has managed to return many of its original pieces of furniture and replicate period fabric to maintain Castell Coch's 1891 appearance
Ancient stronghold near Tongue thought to have belonged to the MacKays. Possibly 1000 years old and built on the site of an old Norse fort.
In THE SAINT, Magnus tells Helen that Castle Varrich is where they will live if she accepts his proposal. (Prologue).
Alatskivi Castle is a neo-Gothic castle in Alatskivi, Estonia. Dating to the 17th century, it is situated in Peipsiääre Parish, Tartu County. It was rebuilt in the late 19th century by Baron Arved von Nolcken, modeled on the royal residence of Balmoral in Scotland. A renovation occurred between 2005 and 2011. (Wikipedia)
Taken whilst exploring Castillo de Pena in Portugal. The sunshire reached the bench only by 6pm making it the best resting place on a sunny day.
Highcliffe Castle has been described as arguably the most important surviving house of the Romantic and Picturesque style of architecture, which flourished at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Its significance is recognised nationally by its Grade 1 status on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural and Historical Interest.
There is an international importance, too. For a large amount of medieval French masonry, shipped across the Channel, was used in its construction. It is this Norman and Renaissance carved stone, along with the Castle’s Gothic revival features and ancient stained glass, that make it appear older than it is.
Built mainly between 1831 and 1836, the Castle is the realisation of one man’s fantasy. He was Lord Stuart de Rothesay, a distinguished diplomat who had known and loved the cliff-top site overlooking Christchurch Bay since he was a boy.
The magnificent building, once lavishly furnished in the 18th century French style remained a family home until the 1950s. In the late 1960s two fires rendered the building derelict and in 1977, to prevent futher deterioration, Christchurch Borough Council purchased it. More information can be found at our Wikipedia page.
Today the Castle’s renovated exterior is testimony of the remarkable skills of craftsmen and women who carried out a huge repair and conservation programme in the 1990s, jointly funded by Christchurch Borough Council, English Heritage and with a £2.65 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. In 2008 a further £1.2 Million programme of repair was completed to enable public access to the State Dining Room, Butler's Pantry and East Tower.
The Castle is now a popular tourist attraction
Castle in Moszna (Poland , woj. opolskie).
Samsung GX-20 + Sigma 17-70 at 28 mm F 8.0 , ISO 140. 3 frames +2,0,-2 EV witout tripod, SR on in camera body. Processed in Machinery HDR Effects 2.5.
Commercial use is prohibited without permission from the author Marek Koteluk
Swords Castle was built as the manorial residence of the Archbishops of Dublin around 1200 or a little later in Swords, just north of Dublin.
It was never strong in the military sense, but covers a large pentagonal walled area of nearly 1.5 acres (6,000 m²) with a tower on the north, probably the Constable's residence, and an impressive gateway complex on the south. The warder may have occupied the quarters to the left of the gate, while to the right was the janitor's room with the priest's room overhead. The adjoining chapel, built in the late thirteenth century, was probably used as the Archbishop's private oratory.
Other buildings, recorded for an inquisition in 1326, have now vanished, including the great hall on the east side of the enclosure. The Archbishop abandoned Swords once a new palace was built at Tallaght in 1324 - a move no doubt encouraged by damage sustained during Bruce's campaign of 1317. The stepped battlements suggest some form of occupancy during the fifteenth century, but by 1583, when briefly occupied by Dutch Protestants, it was described as "the quite spoiled old castle". It was used as a garden in the nineteenth century and sold after the Church of Ireland was disestablished.
The newly renovated castle was used as a film location for the production of TV series The Tudors in spring 2010.
Castle of Fontanellato, near Parma, Italy.
Summer 2011.
Pano assembled from 6 shots.
Exposure taken handheld, Canon EOS 5D, Canon zoom 28-70 3.5-4.5 MKII @ 28mm, 1/250s @ F11, ISO 100.
"The oldest parts of the Castle were built between 1066 and 1074, during the reign of William the Conqueror. The Castle now houses the spectacular collections of the Shropshire Regimental Museum Trust."
Castle Solitude near Stuttgart, Germany. View large on black
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Pictures from The Great Western LEGO Show at STEAM, Swindon, in October 2013. The Tigelfáh Castle and Town display is is the best castle layout I've ever seen, and a sight that it'll take something very special to top. This particular part is the big Tigelfáh Castle, built by James Pegrum (peggyjdb). If I'm not too badly mistaken, there's an ongoing invasion from the Derfel Cadarn area going on here.
The weather on this day was terrible - rain and more rain. That did help with this shot though as the wet bolders reflected the light fantastically!
Castle Mountain in Banff (the back says Cathedral Mountain?), photo dated August 1933... The vendor I purchased it from thought it might be a Byron Harmon photo... I just love how the old car provides some perspective and dating to this picture... And this car has a rather unfamiliar look to it, any guesses?
This is a scan of the picture within a picture frame, there is no way of removing the photo without wrecking the back of the frame
Originally a Romanesque castle with an interesting horseshoe shaped residence tower, it was turned to a Gothic castle later and its size was increased in the 15th and 16th centuries. A Renaissance renovation followed in the 17th century. Finally, in 1708 the castle was captured and plundered by the rebels of Ferenc II Rákóczi. It has been in decay since.
The castle was a residence and later the prison of the Countess Erzsébet Báthory (1560-1614) who was the world's most prolific female serial killer. She tortured and killed hundreds of girls and young women.
Leeds Castle is in Kent, England, 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Maidstone. A castle has been on the site since 1119. In the 13th century it came into the hands of King Edward I, for whom it became a favourite residence; in the 16th century, Henry VIII used it as a residence for his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. The castle today dates mostly from the 19th century and is built on islands in a lake formed by the River Len to the east of the village of Leeds. It has been open to the public since 1976.
Riber Castle is a 19th Century country house that dominates the town of Matlock from its hilltop location. During its life it has been a boarding school and a wildlife park before falling into disrepair. Recently, it has been restored and is being developed into housing apartments.
Bothal Castle is a castle and stately home in the village of the same name near the River Wansbeck, between Morpeth and Ashington in the English county of Northumberland. Botl is Old English for a dwelling. Bothal could refer to a particular dwelling or hall. It was fortified before the Norman conquest, and renovated and remodelled a number of times. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade I listed building.
In 1095, Bothal was given by king William Rufus to Guy I de Balliol, whose daughter Alice married William Bertram, Baron of Mitford, who probably built a hall house. Several generations later, in 1343, Sir Robert Bertram was given permission to turn his manor house into a castle, including an impressive gatehouse. The gate tower and fragments of curtain wall are medieval, a good deal of which still survive to this day. Through the marriage of Bertram's daughter Hellen to Sir Robert Ogle (d. c.1363) the estate passed to the Ogle family in the 14th century. In August 1583 Cuthbert Ogle, 7th Baron Ogle, negotiated a marriage between his daughter Jane and Edward Talbot, a son of George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury's agents visited Bothal, and described the house as 'a castle battled, and not unlike to Nether Haddon where Master John Manners doth dwell.'
In 1591 the estate passed to the Cavendish-Bentinck family (Dukes of Portland), through the marriage of Catherine, Countess of Ogle to Sir Charles Cavendish of Welbeck. Restoration was carried out in the 19th century. The building is used as a private residence of the Cavendish-Bentinck family and also houses the Welbeck Estate Office. The castle is in an excellent state of repair and is not accessible for the public.
The castle of Platamon is a fortress-town of the middle Byzantine period (10th century A.D.). It lies at the south-east foot of mount Olympos, at a strategic position which controls the route leading from Macedonia to Thessaly and South Greece.
Excavations conducted in 1995 brought to light the traces of a Hellenistic fortification, dated to the 4th century B.C. This confirms the suggestion that the site of the castle was occupied by the ancient city of Herakleion, "the first city of Macedonia..." after the Tempe valley, according to an ancient literary source dated to 360 B.C. Habitation on the site continued until the 4th century A.D. The Byzantine wall was restored by the Franks after 1204 and again by the Byzantines in the 14th century. At the end of the 14th century the fortress was captured by the Turks and was again rebuilt but its inhabitants continued to be Christians. In the Second World War (1941) it was bombed by the German army.
More info here
The Armoury.
Arundel Castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle in Arundel, West Sussex. It was established by Roger de Montgomery. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War and then restored in the 18th and 19th centuries by Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk.
Since the 11th century, the castle has been the seat of the Earls of Arundel and the Dukes of Norfolk. It is a Grade I listed building.