Castles Codexery

Warwick Castle

Medieval castle turned country house, now operated by Merlin Entertainments.

Last updated

Where it is

Street map of the area around Warwick Castle; the red dot marks 52°16′44″N 1°35′06″W
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Coordinates: 52°16′44″N 1°35′06″W (52.2790, -1.5850) · Open in OpenStreetMap

Coordinates and connected clubs: the infobox of Wikipedia: Warwick Castle (CC BY-SA 4.0). Map: drawn by Codexery from OpenStreetMap tiles.

The castle has been operated by Merlin Entertainments under a renewable 35-year lease since 2007, when it was sold to Nick Leslau's Prestbury Group.[1][2]

Geography and history

After the Norman conquest, William the Conqueror built a motte-and-bailey castle at Warwick in 1068, demolishing four houses belonging to the Abbot of Coventry.[3][4] In 1153, Gundreda de Warenne surrendered the castle to Henry of Anjou after being tricked into believing her husband was dead.[5] In 1604, King James I granted the ruinous castle to Sir Fulke Greville, who converted it into a country house.[6][7] Because it overlooked the Fosse Way and the River Avon crossing, the site held strategic value for controlling the Midlands region.[3][8]

King Henry I, wary of Roger de Beaumont (2nd Earl of Warwick), granted Geoffrey de Clinton lands that included Kenilworth Castle (about 8 km north) to balance the earl's power.[8][9] A blaze that began early on 3 December 1871 destroyed the Great Hall and private apartments, yet the main structure remained intact.[10][11][12]

What the cited sources add

The same article lists Warwick Castle among the sites being sold, including Thorpe Park and Madame Tussauds.[2] The Warwick Castle parking and directions page confirms the castle is less than two miles from junction 15 of the M40 and about one mile from Warwick railway station.[13] The memorabilia-uk.co.uk account says that during the Second World War, the 7th Earl allowed evacuees from Coventry and the Ministry of Supply to use the castle.[14][15]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Warwick Castle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Alton Towers sold in £622m deal", 17 July 2007; "Merlin conjures up leaseback deal", The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore, 17 July 2007 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. "Alton Towers sold in £622m deal", 17 July 2007. facts only, no text reused. news.bbc.co.uk
  3. Wikipedia, "Warwick Castle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stephens 1969, p. 452–475 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Warwick Castle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Warwick Castle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stephens 1969, p. 452–475; .; .; . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Warwick Castle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The Ghost Tower of Warwick Castle at great-castles.com; ; Stephens 1969, p. 452–475 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. The Ghost Tower of Warwick Castle at great-castles.com. facts only, no text reused. great-castles.com
  8. Wikipedia, "Warwick Castle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Warwick Castle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: .; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Warwick Castle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fairfax-Lucy, "Mistress of Charlecote: The Memoirs of Mary Elizabeth Lucy 1803-1889, pp141-2. [Victor Gollancz 1983; cited Orion edition 2002]"; "Burning of Warwick Castle", National Library of Australia: The Brisbane Courier, Thursday February 29, 1872 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Warwick Castle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Burning of Warwick Castle", National Library of Australia: The Brisbane Courier, Thursday February 29, 1872; "Burning of Warwick Castle", National Library of Australia: The Brisbane Courier, Thursday February 29, 1872 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Warwick Castle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stephens 1969, p. 452–475; Stephens 1969, p. 452–475 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. "Parking & Directions at Warwick Castle", Warwick-Castle.co.uk. facts only, no text reused. warwick-castle.com
  14. "Warwick - Memorabilia UK", www.memorabilia-uk.co.uk. facts only, no text reused. memorabilia-uk.co.uk
  15. Wikipedia, "Warwick Castle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Warwick - Memorabilia UK", www.memorabilia-uk.co.uk; Pickup, "The 50 Greatest Castles and Palaces of the World", Icon Books, 2019, p. 60 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Warwick Castle (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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