Hartshill Castle facts for kids
Hartshill Castle is a cool ruined castle in the village of Hartshill, near Nuneaton in Warwickshire, England. It's an old building that's now mostly in ruins. This castle is so old that it's on a special list called the Heritage at Risk Register. This means it needs help because of things like weather damage and other problems.
The first castle here was built way back in 1125 by a person named Hugh de Hardreshull. It was a type of castle called a motte and bailey. Later, in 1265, the castle stopped being used for a while after Robert de Hartshill died in the Battle of Evesham. But it was rebuilt in 1330 by John de Hardreshull.
Much later, during the time of the Tudors, a large timber-framed house was added to the castle. Today, only a chimney from that house is left. The old castle mounds and parts of the house are still there, but the land is privately owned. It's even believed that King Henry VII stayed here after the Battle of Bosworth.
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Discovering Ancient Life at Hartshill
The area around Hartshill and Oldbury Ridge has been lived in for a very long time. People have been here continuously since the Stone Age!
Stone Age Settlers
Imagine people living here around 10,000 B.C.! These were Stone Age tribes. They didn't stay in one place for long, but they always came back to this area. Why? Because they needed flints for their tools and weapons. They found these flints in the clay near the River Anker. Scientists have even found old flint tools and bones from animals like Red Deer and Woolly rhinoceroses near the river.
A Place Through Time
So, over many centuries, different groups of people lived here. Stone Age and Bronze Age people, Romans, Saxons, Danes, and Normans all left their mark on this land. Each group brought their own way of life.
The Castle's Beginnings
In 1086, a big survey called the Domesday Survey was done. In this book, Hartshill was called Ardreshill. At that time, only about thirteen families lived here. The paths through the forest were very difficult to find.
Building the First Castle
In 1125, Hugh De Hardreshull was given this land. He decided to build the very first castle here. It was a "motte and bailey" castle. This means it had a large mound (the motte) and an enclosed yard (the bailey). It was built overlooking the town of Atherstone.
The first castle walls were made of wood. On top of the motte, there was a wooden tower. This tower was home to the Lord of the Manor and his family. It also worked as a lookout spot to see anyone approaching.
Changes and Additions Over Time
Over the years, the castle changed and grew. New parts were added, and some wooden structures were replaced with stone.
Stone Walls and a Chapel
The first stone building at the castle was a chapel. It was built in the 13th century, but not much of it is left above the ground today. About a hundred years later, the wooden fences (called palisades) around the bailey were replaced. Strong stone walls, 4 feet thick and 15 feet high, were built instead. These walls even had narrow openings called cross-loops for archers to shoot arrows through.
The Tudor Manor House
Around 1560, a new Tudor house was built into the north-east corner of the castle. This house had a timber frame and walls made of wattle and daub. Sadly, most of this house was taken down in the 1950s. Today, only the south-east chimney stack remains.
What Remains Today
Even though Hartshill Castle is mostly a ruin, you can still see parts of its long history.
A section of the old moat, which was filled with water, is still there on the west side. The north door of the castle still stands, and you can see traces of where the west door used to be. The main entrance was probably on the south side, but there's no sign of it above ground now. It's also likely there was a tower in the south-west corner.
