{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}} {{Use British English|date=September 2024}} {{Infobox Historic building |image=Beaudesert Castle.jpg |caption= |name=Beaudesert Castle |location_town=Beaudesert, Warwickshire |location_country=England |pushpin_map=Warwickshire |coordinates = {{coord|52.292733|-1.771172|display=inline,title}} |architect= |client= |engineer= |construction_start_date= |completion_date= |demolished_date= |cost= |structural_system= |architectural_style= |size= }}
'''Beaudesert Castle''' was on a high mound overlooking the village of Beaudesert to the east of Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire ({{gbmapping|SP15606613}}). It is a scheduled ancient monument.<ref name="Pastscape">{{PastScape|mname=Beaudesert Castle |mnumber=331123 |accessdate=4 March 2008 }}</ref><ref name="NHLE"/>
The remains found on the site show that it was originally an Iron Age fort<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1oPAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Beaudesert+Castle%22|title=The Army Quarterly|date=1954|publisher=W. Clowes & sons, Limited}}</ref> which gave the mount its ancient name, Donnilee.<ref>{{cite book|last=Association|first=British Archaeological|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eBIpAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Beaudesert+Castle%22&pg=PA449|title=Journal of the British Archaeological Association|date=1873|publisher=British Archaeological Association.}}</ref> The hilltop and the surrounding area was "sculpted" to form a motte and bailey fortification with its timber Hall following the Norman conquest.<ref>{{cite book|last=Friar|first=Stephen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I_cVAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Beaudesert+Castle%22|title=The Sutton Companion to Castles|date=2003|publisher=Sutton|isbn=978-0-7509-2744-4}}</ref> It was followed by the construction of a stone castle. According to sources it was Thurston De Montfort who built the stone castle here in 1140 during the reign of Henry II,<ref>{{cite book|last=Long|first=Peter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ePshlzYVkAC&dq=%22Beaudesert+Castle%22&pg=PP663|title=The Hidden Places of England|date=2004|publisher=Travel Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-1-904434-12-2}}</ref> and it remained the De Montfort seat for more than a hundred years.<ref>{{cite book|last=Moule|first=Thomas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=la0_AAAAcAAJ&dq=%22Beaudesert+Castle%22&pg=RA1-PA252|title=The English Counties Delineated: Or, A Topographical Description of England|date=1837|publisher=G. Virtue}}</ref> Peter de Montfort also resided at the castle. The Earl of Warwick took possession of the De Montfort's land in approximately 1369, and subsequently the castle's importance declined. According to some accounts it was repaired in 1411 but later abandoned.<ref name="NHLE">{{NHLE|num=1012703|desc=Beaudesert Castle: motte and bailey castle and two fishponds, Beaudesert |accessdate=3 June 2021}}</ref> During the early years of the War of the Roses, between York and Lancaster, the castle, which was then unoccupied and had fallen into disrepair, was dismantled, and its heavy timbers were, according to some sources, used for the construction of stately houses at Henley.<ref>{{cite book|last=Smith (Topographer)|first=William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0m9YAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Beaudesert+Castle%22&pg=PA289|title=A New & Compendious History, of the County of Warwick: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Comprising Views, of the Principal Towns, Buildings, Modern Improvements, Seats of the Nobility & Gentry, Ecclesiastical Edifices &c &c|date=1891|publisher=W. Emans}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BThOAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Beaudesert+Castle%22|title=Country Life|date=1923|publisher=Country Life, Limited}}</ref> A single stone and earthworks remain today, along with evidence of two fishponds and some remains of the motte and bailey fortification.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.courts.fsnet.co.uk/beaudesert.htm |title=Beaudesert Castle - Warwickshire |access-date=17 December 2007 |last=Courts |first=Robert |date=2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071101110854/http://www.courts.fsnet.co.uk/beaudesert.htm |archive-date=1 November 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The site was investigated by the archaeologists of ''Time Team'' in series 9 (2002).<ref>[http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/beaudesert.html ''Time Team''; programme 11 of series 9]</ref>
==See also== *Castles in Great Britain and Ireland *List of castles in England
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
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Category:Castles in Warwickshire Category:Scheduled monuments in Warwickshire