Scheduled MonumentsEnglandOld Wardour Castle: a tower keep castle, 17th century stables and later garden features

Old Wardour Castle: a tower keep castle, 17th century stables and later garden features

England
List entry 1013398
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1013398
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
2.08 hectares
Grid reference
ST 93883 26341
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Old Wardour Castle is a hexagonal tower keep built in the late 14th century, located near Tisbury in Wiltshire, England. The castle was constructed by John, Lord Lovel, and represents a distinctive example of the military architecture of that period, with its unusual six-sided design providing both defensive capability and residential accommodation. The site retains 17th century stables and later garden features, reflecting its subsequent occupation and adaptation following the English Civil War, during which the castle underwent siege. The ruins, designated under the National Heritage List for England (entry 1013398), remain an important example of late medieval fortified domestic architecture in southern England.

Old Wardour Castle: a tower keep castle, 17th century stables and later garden features is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1013398. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Old Wardour Castle: a tower keep castle, 17th century stables and later garden features?

Old Wardour Castle is a hexagonal tower keep built in the late 14th century, located near Tisbury in Wiltshire, England. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1013398.

Who is responsible for protecting Old Wardour Castle: a tower keep castle, 17th century stables and later garden features?

Old Wardour Castle: a tower keep castle, 17th century stables and later garden features is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1013398.

What other scheduled monuments are near Old Wardour Castle: a tower keep castle, 17th century stables and later garden features?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Bowl barrow on Woodley Down 675m NNE of Ashmore Farm (8.6 km), Iron Age and Romano-British settlement remains on Woodcutts Common, 850m south east and 845m SSE of Arundell Cottages (8.6 km), Enclosure in Brookes Coppice, 600m north west of Five Elms (8.9 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about Old Wardour Castle: a tower keep castle, 17th century stables and later garden features

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Old Wardour Castle: a tower keep castle, 17th century stables and later garden features's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Old Wardour Castle: a tower keep castle, 17th century stables and later garden features

Old Wardour Castle: a tower keep castle, 17th century stables and later garden features stands on Gault Formation And Upper Greensand Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Cenomanian. The rock here is mudstone, sandstone and limestone.