Astley Castle

Details

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 07/12/2012


SP38NW
8/15
11/11/52


ASTLEY
Astley Castle


GV
II*


Country house, originally a fortified house. C13 and C14 origins; C15, mid C16
and early C17; remodelled c.1820. Regular coursed and ashlar sandstone; some
timber framing and brick to rear. Moulded cornice and embattled parapet
throughout. Front range has no roof; rear range has early C19 low-pitched slate
roof. Large embattled stone central stack; C16/C17 and C19 brick ridge, valley
and lateral stacks. Double-depth plan. 2 storeys; 6-window range. Fifth bay has
porch restored or added early C19, with moulded doorway and embattled parapet.
Left return side has Tudor-arched window. Chamfered shallow Tudor-arched doorway
with plank door inside. Chamfered stone mullioned windows are mostly C19.
Four-light window in reduced C16/C17 opening above porch. First and second bays
have 4-light windows to ground floor. First floor has C16/C17 mullioned and
transomed window, and straight-headed 4-light window with Curvilinear tracery. 3
early C19 French windows have moulded 4-centred arches and fanlights with blind
Gothick tracery. 2 large 3-light Gothick windows above have 4-centred arches and
single hood mould with block stops. Straight joint between fifth and sixth bays.
Sixth bay has 3-light recessed mullioned windows. Left return side is a 2-bay
range with 2 large buttresses. First bay has 4-light wood mullioned and
transomed window, and C19 mullioned window above. Second bay has fragments of
4-light window to first floor; wall above has fallen away. Right return side is
mostly rendered, and has 3 gables. Right range is of C19 brick. Irregular rear
has large 2-bay right range with embattled parapet. Ground floor is hidden by
curtain wall (q.v.). Central external stone stack has upper part and star shaft
of thin bricks; square top of C19 brick. Similar shaft to right. 3-light
double-chamfered mullioned and transomed windows; tall left window has 2
transoms. Shallow projection to left has chamfered 4-centred lancet. Blocked
Tudor-arched opening below and to right of right window. Lower irregular
2-window range to left has some timber framing with brick infill to first floor.
2 doors, C19 brick one-window addition has dentil cornice. Mullioned windows and
casements. Interior not inspected. The building is derelict and little more than
a shell. Licence to crenellate at Astley was obtained in 1266. Elizabeth
Woodville lived at Astley Castle before her marriage to Edward IV. It was also
the home of Sir Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, and Lady Jane Grey.
Behind the apparently early 19th century French windows in the centre of the
east range are 3 15th century arched windows, the tracery heads surviving
internally. This may have been the floored hall at the centre of the build,
with ground and first floor fireplaces. To the west of the hall is the 15th
century tower vice running to third storey or roof level. The 2 bays to the
north have on second and attic floors, timber-framed penthouses which may have
formed a long gallery. The 2 bays to the south form a 17th century solar wing,
medieval service rooms and curtain wall are reported at south west.

(Buildings of England: Warwickshire: p75; VCH: Warwickshire: Vol.VI, pl5)


Listing NGR: SP3115989484

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

309103

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Doubleday, AH, Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Warwick, (1951), 15
Pevsner, N, Wedgwood, A, The Buildings of England: Warwickshire, (1966), 75

End of official list entry