Chartley Castle, Medieval castle ruins in Stowe-by-Chartley, England
Chartley Castle consists of medieval ruins standing on elevated ground near Stowe-by-Chartley, featuring a cylindrical keep, curtain walls reinforced with half-round towers, and a distinctive twin-towered gatehouse. The layout shows how defensive strongholds were organized during the Middle Ages.
The fortress was originally built around 1100 by the Earls of Chester as a regional power center. Early in the 1200s, Ranulph de Blondeville undertook major reconstruction work, and it later came under the control of the Ferrers family.
The castle structure exhibits architectural elements similar to Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire and Beeston Castle in Cheshire from the same period.
The ruins are freely accessible and can be viewed from the outside, though they are closed off as a protected monument. Sturdy footwear is helpful since the ground is elevated and uneven.
The castle grounds served as a detention site for Mary, Queen of Scots in 1586, where she became entangled in the Babington Plot.
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