The ruins of Chartley Castle, near Stow-by-Chartley, Staffordshire, England
Chartley Castle was a stronghold of the Earls of Chester, Earl Ranulf de Blundeville adding stone fortifications to the existing earthworks After his death in 1232 without a male heir the castle passed to William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby, but his volatile son Robert, the 6th Earl, unwisely sided with Simon de Montfort in his struggle with Henry III, and the castle fell to the royal forces. After de Montfort’s fall Derby was pardoned, but in a further act of folly engaged in a fresh rebellion and was arrested for treason. His life was spared, but he was stripped of his lands and title. In 1273 he seized Chartley Castle by force, but was soon evicted. Nevertheless, he did eventually manage to regain the manor, but it represented only a fraction of his former lands and the family was, essentially, ruined. They continued to hold Chartley, though, for the next two hundred years, the castle apparently only being abandoned after the death of the 7th Lord Ferrers of Chartley at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.
Size: 4287px × 2848px
Location: A518, near Stow-by-Chartley, Staffordshire, England
Photo credit: © David Knighton / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: britain, british, castle, chartley, england, english, exterior, kingdom, ruin, ruined, ruins, scene, spring, staffordshire, stow, stow--chartley, topograhical, uk, united
