Maxstoke Castle

Details

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

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

309007

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Doubleday, AH, Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Warwick, (1947)
Pevsner, N, Wedgwood, A, The Buildings of England: Warwickshire, (1966), 348
Country Life in Country Life, (1974)
Archaeological Journal in Archaeological Journal, Vol. 135, (1978)
Avray Tipping, H, English Homes in English Homes, ()

End of official list entry

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