The borough of Warwick: The castle and castle estate in Warwick

THE CASTLE AND CASTLE ESTATE IN WARWICK

WARWICK CASTLE was founded in time of war as a royal fortress and remained in the family of its first custodian to become the centre of a private lordship. The lands which were brought together to make up this lordship were not a territorial unit and had no military significance except in supporting the dignity of the earl. (fn. 1) The estates in Warwick itself were never more than a fraction of the whole honor; the large estates which gave the earldom its political importance later made the castle at the centre of the honor one of the great houses of the midlands.

Tenurial History

A castle at Warwick was begun by William I in 1068 as part of a plan to safeguard the midlands before advancing against the northern rebels. He committed the custody of it to Henry de Beaumont, a younger son of that powerful Norman family, as castellan or constable, (fn. 2) although he cannot have been more than twenty years old at that time. In 1088 William II rewarded Henry's loyalty by creating him Earl of Warwick, (fn. 3) and added lands to support that dignity out of the estates of Turchil of Arden, (fn. 4) an English thegn. Henry also acquired at about the same time the Warwickshire estates of his elder brother Robert, Count of Meulan. (fn. 5) On Henry's death in 1119 the castle passed to his son Roger, Earl of Warwick (d. 1153), who appears to have used no other surname, and it continued in that family through William (d. 1184), Waleran (d. 1203 or 1204) and Henry (d. 1229) (fn. 6) to Thomas the 6th earl, who died in June 1242 without male heirs. He was succeeded by his sister Margery, whose husband, John Marshal, was given seisin of her lands and of the castle but died in October of the same year. (fn. 7) The widow agreed not to remarry before the following Ascension Eve on pain of forfeiture, (fn. 8) but the castle was nevertheless ordered to be taken into the king's hand as a pledge for a suitable remarriage. (fn. 9) John du Plessis was granted her marriage in December 1242, (fn. 10) and held the castle and earldom for life and not in fee until his death without issue in 1263, when, Margery having died in 1253, (fn. 11) they passed to her cousin William Mauduit, (fn. 12) who held by the service of two knights until he also died without issue in 1268. (fn. 13)

William Mauduit was succeeded by his nephew William, the first of the Beauchamp earls, the eldest son of William Beauchamp of Elmley (Worcs.); (fn. 14) he held the honor by the service of five knights. Guy Beauchamp his son inherited on his death in 1298 (fn. 15) and was said to hold 'by service of earldom'. (fn. 16) Guy's heir was his son Thomas Beauchamp, a child under the age of two in 1315, (fn. 17) and to avoid exploitation of the estate by the Crown during the expected long minority, the earl on his death bed in that year obtained a royal grant that his executors should have the wardship of his lands until the full age of Thomas. Wardship was accordingly given to them provided that they did not commit the earl's castles of Warwick or Elmley to anyone without licence. (fn. 18) Although a royal official had already been chosen to keep the two castles, (fn. 19) the earl's executors appear to have taken possession of the lands and castle at Warwick on behalf of the heir. (fn. 20) In view of the disturbed political scene, however, and the part played in it by the late Earl Guy, his executors could not remain in control for long, and on 10 June 1317 they were ordered to hand over to Walter Beauchamp of Alcester and Powick, Guy's cousin, who was appointed constable of the castle and keeper of the lands pertaining to it. (fn. 21) The commitment on 21 June that year to Hugh le Despenser the elder (fn. 22) appears not to have included the castle, since Walter Beauchamp continued in possession undisturbed. He handed over his charge in 1321 to William de Sutton, (fn. 23) but in the same year it was committed to the sheriff, (fn. 24) who was ordered to put John Pecche in possession. (fn. 25) To him succeeded Thomas Blount in July 1326, (fn. 26) who in turn handed over to Peter de Montfort in October, (fn. 27) until in 1327 the wardship was acquired by Roger Mortimer. (fn. 28) Roger married his own daughter Catherine to the heir, (fn. 29) Thomas Beauchamp, who was given seisin of his lands in 1329 although still under age. (fn. 30)

In 1344 by royal licence Thomas Beauchamp entailed the castle and his lands in Warwickshire and elsewhere on his sons and male descendants, by an early form of family settlement. (fn. 31) His eldest son Guy having predeceased him without a male heir, he was succeeded in 1369 by his second son, Thomas the younger, since Guy's daughters were excluded under the settlement. (fn. 32) In 1397 Thomas Beauchamp the younger, towards the end of his career, was arrested in retaliation for his acts as one of the former Lords Appellant and charged with treason. This he admitted and was banished to the Isle of Man until liberated on the accession of Henry IV. (fn. 33) His estates were forfeit during those two years and were given first into the custody of John de Clynton (fn. 34) and then granted outright to Thomas de Holand, Earl of Kent. (fn. 35) Thomas Beauchamp, however, recovered his lands under the new king and in 1400 was granted the goods of the late Earl of Kent remaining in Warwick Castle. (fn. 36) On the death of Thomas in 1401 the castle formed part of the dower of his countess, Margaret, (fn. 37) who survived him until 1406. He was succeeded by his son Richard Beauchamp of whose vast and widespread estates Warwick Castle and its lands formed but a small part when he died in 1439. (fn. 38) Henry, Richard's only son by his second wife, was the last Beauchamp earl and for one year the only Duke of Warwick. During his minority his castles and manors were farmed from the Crown by a group which included John Throckmorton and Thomas Huggeford, two of his father's executors. (fn. 39) He died at the age of 21 in 1446. (fn. 40)

The title to the Warwick estates then descended to Anne, Henry Beauchamp's infant daughter by his wife Cecily, daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, there being no surviving male heirs to inherit under the entail of 1344. Queen Margaret and later William de la Pole were granted her wardship; (fn. 41) she died at the age of five in 1449. The next heir was her aunt, Anne, sister to Henry Beauchamp and wife of Richard Neville the younger, the Earl of Salisbury's son, to whom the Warwick earldom and estates were confirmed in that year. (fn. 42) Richard also obtained in 1450 a fresh grant to himself and his wife for their separate lives. (fn. 43) The estates of this Richard Neville, the Kingmaker, were taken by the Crown on his attainder in 1459, but the attainder was reversed the next year and, in spite of his death in battle against the king in 1471, he appears not to have been attainted again. (fn. 44) His widow petitioned for her lands and dower, but by an Act of Parliament of 1474 her estates were divided, since there was no male heir, between her sons-in-law, the Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester. (fn. 45) On the former, George Plantagenet, third surviving son of Richard, Duke of York, and husband of Isabel, Richard Neville's elder daughter, the earldom of Warwick had been conferred in 1472 by reason of that marriage. (fn. 46) He also enjoyed Warwick Castle, (fn. 47) but whether in right of his wife or as part of his mother-in-law's lands is not clear. He was attainted and executed in 1478 and, his wife having died in 1476, was succeeded in the title to the castle and estates by his only surviving son, Edward Plantagenet, styled Earl of Warwick since his baptism and then aged nearly three. His lands were taken into custody by the Crown because of his minority, and he himself was removed to the Tower on the accession of Henry VII and kept prisoner until his execution in 1499. (fn. 48) In 1487 Anne, dowager Countess of Warwick, widow of Richard Neville, had obtained an Act of Parliament for the restoration of her estates. (fn. 49) These she conveyed immediately to Henry VII (fn. 50) and confirmed the grant by a fine; (fn. 51) Warwick and other castles were given away and she retained only the manor of Erdington. In 1499, therefore, the Crown's title became absolute.

The period of continuous royal administration of the castle and lands which began in 1478 lasted until they were granted in 1547 to John Dudley, newly created Earl of Warwick. (fn. 52) In applying for Warwick Castle, of which he had acquired the joint constableship in 1532, (fn. 53) he wrote: 'because of the name, I am the more desirous to have the thing, and also I came of one of the daughters of the right and not defiled line'. (fn. 54) This referred to his descent four generations before from Margaret, Countess of Shrewsbury, eldest of the three daughters of Richard Beauchamp by his first wife. (fn. 55) John Dudley, who in 1551 was created Duke of Northumberland, was executed in 1553, when, since he was attainted, his estates reverted to the Crown. (fn. 56) Ambrose Dudley, the eldest surviving son of John and attainted with him, was restored in 1558 and created Baron Lisle and Earl of Warwick in 1561. (fn. 57) He received a grant in 1562 of the castle and of many properties in Warwick formerly belonging to his father, with the reversions to such as had been leased out in the meantime by the Crown, (fn. 58) and he held them until his death in 1590 without surviving children, when, his brother Robert, Earl of Leicester, being already dead, his estates came again into the queen's hands. (fn. 59)

In July 1604 Sir Fulke Greville, only son of Sir Fulke Greville the elder of Beauchamps Court, whose family were collaterally related to the barons Beauchamp of Powick, (fn. 60) obtained a grant of the castle, though bereft of many of its former appurtenances. (fn. 61) He was already ranger of Wedgnock Park since 1597 (fn. 62) and custodian, under the Lord Treasurer, of the castle itself since 1600. (fn. 63) Sir Fulke Greville was created Baron Brooke of Beauchamps Court in 1621, with special remainder to his cousin and adopted heir, Robert Greville the son of Fulke Greville of Thorpe Latimer, to whom the castle and estate passed when he died unmarried in 1628. The property then descended in the family of Greville from this Robert (killed 1643), through Francis (d. 1658), Robert (d. 1677), Fulke (d. Oct. 1710), Fulke (d. Feb. 1711), William (d. 1727), Francis (d. 1773), George (d. 1816), Henry Richard (d. 1853), Guy George (d. 1893), Francis Richard Charles Guy (d. 1924), Leopold Guy Francis Maynard (d. 1928), to Charles Guy Fulke Greville the present earl. (fn. 64) In 1746 Francis Greville, 8th Baron Brooke, was created Earl Brooke of Warwick Castle, and in 1759 Earl of Warwick, following the death of the last representative of the Rich family, who had held that title since 1618. These titles continue in the Greville family.

General and Structural History of the Castle

The castle founded in the 11th century was of the motte-and-bailey type. It stands on a sandstone bluff overlooking a bend of the Avon where the river has cut away the rock to form a cliff. Except on this side, where river and cliff provide natural defences, the walls surrounding the former bailey are protected by a dry moat. The area enclosed by the walls is about 140 yds. long from north-east to south-west and about 90 yds. wide. The motte or castle mound, (fn. 65) on which a keep formerly stood, forms the southwest end of the enclosure, but the most formidable defences, built in the 14th century, are at the opposite or north-east end. Here a central gatehouse tower with a barbican outside it is connected by high curtain walls to two great angle towers, Caesar's Tower on the south and Guy's Tower on the north. Beyond the barbican there was originally a drawbridge across the dry moat but since the late 18th century the main approach to the castle has been by way of a stone bridge and a drive cut through the rock to a gateway on Castle Hill. From the courtyard Guy's Tower appears the taller of the two angle towers, but externally Caesar's Tower descends almost to the level of the river where its foundations are built on the solid rock. From Guy's Tower the curtain wall is continued to enclose the long northwest side of the former bailey. Near its centre a projecting structure incorporating the smaller Bear and Clarence Towers, represents the remains of a 15th-century fortification. The gateway between them is modern. Further south-west the wall is pierced by another modern opening and then climbs to the summit of the castle mound where it formerly joined a shell keep of the 12th or 13th century. Little of the present masonry on the mound, however, is of medieval origin. On the further side of the mound the wall descends to the Watergate or Hill Tower which, from an early date, appears to have contained an iron-gated postern. Almost the whole south-east side of the former bailey is occupied by the domestic buildings of the castle which extend nearly to Caesar's Tower at their north-east end. The range is built on the rocky cliff beside the Avon so that the basement beneath the principal rooms lies mainly below ground level on the courtyard side but to the south-east has its windows placed high above the river. The buildings owe their external appearance almost entirely to alterations made in the 17th and 18th centuries when they were extended at both ends and towards the courtyard. The whole central portion, however, which is 200 ft. long and includes the present Great Hall and most of the so-called State Rooms, represents the living quarters of the 14th-century castle. The extent of the medieval structure can be determined by the extra thickness of the walls and the stone vaulting to the basements below. Projecting into the courtyard is a remodelled chapel of medieval origin and, further south-west, the polygonal 'Spy Tower', containing a spiral staircase and probably dating from the 16th century. The principal alterations and additions to the domestic buildings were carried out by Fulke Greville in the early 17th century, by Robert, Lord Brooke, about 50 years later, by the first Earl of Warwick of the Greville line from 1760 onwards, and by the fourth earl in the later 19th century. Most of the changes to the castle grounds and approaches were the work of the first earl and his son between 1743 and 1800.

When the castle was begun in 1068 its site encroached on part of the town, and four houses there belonging to the Abbot of Coventry were demolished to make room for it. (fn. 66) In castles of this kind it was usual to erect a wooden tower or keep surrounded by a timber palisade on the flat top of the mound and to enclose the bailey with a ditch and bank. Upon this another palisade was erected (fn. 67) extending up the sides of the mound to connect with the first palisade at the top. When the earth of the mound had settled, the keep and palisades were rebuilt in stone, and this was presumably done at Warwick from the 12th century onwards. A 17th century traveller, Thomas Baskerville, observed that the castle 'is built upon a rock of excellent freestone, and out of the dike surrounding the wall they drew the stone which built this brave edifice'. (fn. 68) No doubt the castle ditch, which can never have held water, has many times been deepened by quarrying. On the mount itself the modern walls incorporate masonry which is thought to be of the 13th century (fn. 69) and which probably formed part of the stone keep. The walls have been so often repaired or rebuilt that it is now impossible to assign any part of them to the Norman period; some of the oldest work, however, is visible on the north-west side near the base of the Clarence Tower. The domestic buildings, probably placed from the first on the securest side of the bailey next the river, included the church of All Saints, founded by Henry de Beaumont before 1119, but removed in 1127 or 1128 by Simon, Bishop of Worcester, who considered the position unsuitable for a church by very reason of its being within a castle. (fn. 70) It may have been replaced by a domestic chapel on the same site.

On the arrival in England of Henry of Anjou in 1153, the garrison was tricked into handing over the castle to Henry's men, possibly at the instigation of the Countess Gundred in the absence of the earl, who supported Stephen and is said to have died of chagrin on hearing the news. (fn. 71) In 1173 the sheriff provided a large store of wheat to provision the castle motte, (fn. 72) placed a guard on it probably from local levies raised against the revolt of the king's sons in that year, and constructed a house and a brattice or wooden parapet there. (fn. 73) In 1174 the guard was reduced but continued until the following year, and it appears that the sheriff, William Basset, served personally with them. (fn. 74) Thomas 'de Mota', outlawed in 1182, (fn. 75) was probably one of these soldiers. The sheriff expended 45s. in repairing the castle in 1191 under the inspection of Ralph the mason and Geoffrey Broc, (fn. 76) by which time the walls were presumably of stone. There was again a guard in the castle for some eight months in 1205. (fn. 77) In 1233 Thomas, Earl of Warwick, was included among the group of Marcher barons from whom Henry III exacted hostages for loyal service until peace should be established, but, having no son, he was constrained to surrender the castle to the king who entrusted it to John de Ladbrok and John Durvassal. (fn. 78) It is unlikely that this affected the earl's occupation of the castle but it indicates its military importance. Margery, his sister and heir, was described in 1242 as a lady of the highest family, having a castle of great strength lying towards the Marches; her remarriage had therefore to be safeguarded. (fn. 79)

At an early stage of the Barons' Wars, in which the earl was an inactive supporter of the king, Warwick Castle attracted the attention of John Giffard of Brimpsfield who in 1264 was holding Kenilworth Castle for Simon de Montfort. (fn. 80) He took Warwick Castle in a surprise attack and, in the words of John Rous, 'for that it should be no strength to the king, he beat with his fellowship down the wall from tower to tower, which unto Earl Thomas's days after was hedged'. (fn. 81) Rous probably refers to the north-eastern end of the castle, although it is not known what towers stood there in 1264, and means that a breach in the Norman wall was temporarily repaired with timber.

In 1312 Piers Gaveston was brought to the castle, having been seized by Guy Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. The chronicler, perhaps with some dramatic licence, describes a trial or rather debate among his captors in which the view prevailed that it would be foolish to let slip that which they had pursued with such trouble, and that it was better that this one man should die rather than that the realm should be troubled with further wars. Gaveston was therefore led out of Warwick to Blacklowe Hill in Leek Wootton, and executed. (fn. 82) When the constables of many castles were ordered to garrison them in 1317 Walter Beauchamp was instructed to put thirty fencible men in Warwick Castle at the king's wages. (fn. 83) In 1321 the castle was occupied for a short time by Roger Mortimer's supporters whom the sheriff, with John Pecche and other local men, was sent to eject and imprison. (fn. 84) Pecche and Thomas le Rus were empowered to try them under a commission of gaol delivery. (fn. 85) The ejection was apparently successful, and Pecche maintained an armed garrison in the castle until 1322. In 1326 the constable of the castle was warned, as were the constables of other castles, to keep securely all prisoners, rebels, and enemies of the king, (fn. 86) and twice in that year Pecche was required to convey elsewhere particular named prisoners in his charge; (fn. 87) these were clearly not common malefactors but political prisoners.

To Thomas Beauchamp the elder (d. 1369) must be ascribed the building of Caesar's Tower, the gatehouse and barbican, and part at least of the high curtain wall on the north-east front, where presumably the wall had been destroyed by John Giffard. Of these great works, which include the most individual and characteristic features of the castle, no contemporary documentation survives; John Rous, however, says of this earl that 'he walled the castle of Warwick toward it [i.e. the town] and gated it', (fn. 88) and in the Latin roll, 'castrum Warwici alto muro et novis turribus decoravit'. (fn. 89) A local tradition current in 1644 gave Caesar's Tower the alternative name of Poitiers Tower because prisoners taken at that battle (fn. 90) where the earl commanded the vanguard, (fn. 91) may have been lodged there or their ransoms may have helped to pay for it. Rous appears to regard all the high curtain wall, and with it Guy's Tower, since he says 'towers' in the plural, as the work of Thomas Beauchamp, the elder, and in a drawing he depicts that earl holding part of the castle in which the new wall and Guy's Tower figure prominently and unmistakably. (fn. 92) Dugdale, on the other hand, citing a lost bailiff's account for 1393 or 1394, says that Guy's Tower was finished at that time at a total cost of £395. (fn. 93) Even if this account, of which no details are given, applies to Guy's Tower, the smallness of the sum involved suggests that the bulk of the work may have been completed earlier. There is clearly a conflict between Rous and Dugdale on this point which cannot now be resolved. Of Thomas Beauchamp the younger, Rous says only that he 'began the new towers next the dungeon'; (fn. 94) here he is evidently using the word 'dungeon' in its original sense of 'keep' and is probably referring to the Watergate Tower at the foot of the mount, and perhaps also to a corresponding tower on the north side where a bastion was later visible. (fn. 95)

The 14th-century fortifications were planned and built on a lavish scale. (fn. 96) The barbican in front of the gatehouse tower projects for a considerable distance and its entrance arch, which still retains a portcullis, is flanked by a pair of octagonal turrets; there are two stories above the arch and the whole is surmounted by an embattled parapet. The passage between the barbican and the main gateway has high side walls but is open at the top. The gatehouse itself consists of a square tower with polygonal turrets at the inner and round turrets at the outer angles. It is of five stories, but high above the roof, both at the sides and over the barbican passage, the turrets are connected by arches carrying platforms for the use of the defenders. Caesar's Tower is an irregular quatrefoil on plan with a deep battered base on its outer side rising from the rock just above the level of the river. Within the base, approached from the courtyard by a doorway and down a long flight of steps, is a vaulted prison with a garderobe or latrine opening off it. Above courtyard level the tower has three stories surmounted by a platform with an embattled and machicolated parapet. Behind the parapet a further story contains a hexagonal guardroom with rectangular openings on five of its sides. One stair turret gives access from the courtyard to the tower rooms and to the roof, while another rises from the top of the curtain wall to the parapet walk and the guardroom. Guy's Tower is twelve-sided and of five stories. On each of the four lower floors is a central stone-vaulted chamber, flanked on one side by a smaller chamber and on the other by a latrine. The narrow transomed windows have ogee heads and the larger rooms contain fireplaces. The top story, as at Caesar's Tower, consists of a hexagonal guardroom, its walls pierced by rectangular openings in deep embrasures. The stone vault above it is over seven feet thick and the tower roof is enclosed by a machicolated and embattled parapet. There are two staircases in the thickness of the walls, one serving the rooms in the tower and the other leading independently from the curtain wall to the roof. On the outer face of the curtain wall to the south-west of Guy's Tower is a 'crow's-nest', or small corbelled turret at parapet level. The Watergate Tower has been largely rebuilt; it has a square plan with polygonal projections at the angles, one containing a stair. There are now only two stories on the courtyard side but externally, where the ground falls away towards the river, there are four stories. Probably there was always a gateway through the tower, formerly approached by a flight of steps leading downwards from the courtyard. (fn. 97)

In addition to their defensive works it is likely that Thomas Beauchamp and his son extended the castle's domestic buildings. The north-eastern half of the medieval range, containing the Great Hall and two rooms to the east of it, is evidently of later 14thcentury date. The vaulted basement below the western half of the range where the State Rooms are now situated shows earlier features: on the wallcorbels and supporting piers the vaulting ribs spring from keel-moulded capitals instead of dying into the masonry as in the basement below the hall. It is possible that the present Cedar Room was the site of an earlier hall, the Red and Green Drawing Rooms representing its service rooms and solar respectively. The Cedar Room may have been converted into a solar or great chamber in the later 14th century after the new and larger hall had been added at the northeast end of the range.

The roof of the castle chapel was repaired in 1395 in preparation for a visit of Richard II. (fn. 98) Richard Beauchamp added to the castle a countermure or outer wall enclosing the castle ditch and built a new bridge before the gates about 1421. (fn. 99) He also built a stable of great size outside the castle gate in 1423 (fn. 100) costing 500 marks. Plaster of Paris was used, perhaps for greater whiteness in the wall-filling of a timberframed building. In addition he repaired a tower on the south side of the castle, probably Caesar's Tower, and the domestic buildings. (fn. 101) John Brewster, the earl's receiver general, had a lodge within the barbican (fn. 102) and in 1440 there existed in the castle a 'treasury of evidences' or muniment room. (fn. 103) Edward IV was imprisoned in the castle for a short time in the summer of 1469 at the instigation of Richard Neville and George, Duke of Clarence. (fn. 104) Neither of them carried out any structural alterations, though the latter, according to Rous, had planned to make an outer ward to the castle enclosing the barn and stable, and also a park on the Temple fields 'for a pleasance to be in the castle and see the deer and the sport of them'. (fn. 105) In 1480 shortly after the castle came into the king's hands, the bailiff, Robert Fitzwaren, was sent by the constable to London to speak in person with the king and members of his council about repairing the castle walls and other defects of the estate. (fn. 106) The walls which were causing anxiety must have been those on the north-west side adjoining the high curtain wall since these had not been rebuilt and were very much older, possibly Norman. It was to strengthen this side that the next piece of building was undertaken. Leland says 'in this part of the castle King Richard III pulled down a piece of the wall, and began and half finished a mighty tower or strength for to shoot out guns. This piece as he left it so it remaineth unfinished'. (fn. 107) The projecting structure with its two octagonal towers, now called the Bear and Clarence Towers, is the outer portion of this great fortress, which extended nearly the same distance behind the wall into the courtyard. (fn. 108) The two towers, left unfinished in 1485 at about their present height, have modern battlements; their intended height would probably have been much greater. Provided with its own well and baking ovens, this fortification was designed to be a strongpoint independent of a possibly mutinous garrison in the rest of the castle. Although the building was not finished it is possible that guns were obtained for it since a new office, that of keeper of the artillery in the castle, was created in 1486. (fn. 109) There were formerly circular gun-ports and rectangular openings, both in the towers themselves and in the wall between them. (fn. 110) In 1507 the windows of the castle were repaired by a glazier named Whityng. (fn. 111) In 1536 the castle was again used to incarcerate a special prisoner, John Watwode, a clerk of St. Mary's, who was arrested for ringing on St. Lawrence's day, declared not to be a public holy day. (fn. 112)

Leland saw the castle at some time between 1535 and 1543. After mentioning the principal towers, to the east and north, he observed that 'the dungeon now in ruin standeth in the west-north-west part of the castle. There is also a tower west-north-west, and through it a postern-gate of iron. (fn. 113) All the principal lodgings of the castle with the hall and chapel lie on the south side of the castle, and here the king doth much cost in making foundations in the rocks to sustain that side of the castle, for great pieces fell out of the rocks that sustain it.' (fn. 114) In 1538 the house of the Black Friars was being dismantled. A tiled roof 60 ft. long was reserved for use on a kitchen which the king was building in the castle, (fn. 115) presumably the timber-framed structure with three hearths at the eastern end of the domestic buildings which was still standing at the end of the century. (fn. 116) By 1546 five hundred loads of stone had also been taken for the reparations then in hand, probably to the rock on the south side, and more was needed to complete them. (fn. 117) John Dudley, in a preliminary letter to Sir William Paget, Principal Secretary of State, about his petition for the castle in 1547, wrote that'. . . the castle of its self is not able to lodge a good baron with his train, for all the one side of the said castle with also the dungeon tower is clearly ruinated and down to the ground'. (fn. 118) Besides the keep this may mean that a section of the older curtain wall had now fallen, perhaps that south-west of the Bear and Clarence Towers, but no rebuilding by John Dudley is recorded. In 1557 minor repairs were carried out on the stable roof and on the leads and gutters over 'the chambers in the castle called the king and queen's chambers', (fn. 119) presumably those formerly occupied by Richard III and his queen. (fn. 120)

Elizabeth I first visited Warwick briefly during a progress in 1566 (fn. 121) but came again in 1572, when she lodged in the castle for four nights between 11 and 18 August, a visit to Kenilworth intervening. (fn. 122) A timber building was erected for her accommodation (fn. 123) but Ambrose Dudley was nevertheless obliged to remove to the Priory, leaving the entire castle to the queen's household. On the Sunday she watched the country people dance in the courtyard from her chamber window and later saw a firework display and a mock battle in the Temple fields below the castle. (fn. 124) A survey of 1576 mentions the 'out court', containing the great barn and stables, the countermure and 'the queen's garden next Avon without the castle wall'. (fn. 125) In 1590 another survey revealed considerable decay and neglect, particularly in the lead of the roofs, much of which had been stolen. In the hall, also called the 'paved hall', and in the great chamber two large windows of stone would hardly stand until the next spring, while the chapel, gatehouse, and Caesar's Tower were all decayed through rain entering. The lead and glass of the 'tower next the new building', probably the Spy Tower, were in great decay. The gallery from the great chamber to the chapel lacked lead and in the Watergate Tower, described as the 'tower over the iron gate', the timber and stone work were decayed and a wooden bridge which connected it to the domestic buildings was broken down. (fn. 126) Sir Fulke Greville the elder of Beauchamps Court applied unsuccessfully to Cecil for stone from the castle in 1601: 'Now, sir, the queen hath the ruins of a house in this country, which hath been a common gaol these ten or twelve years; the wall down in many places hard to the ground; the roof open to all weathers; the little stone building there was, mightily in decay; the timber lodgings built thirty years agone for herself, all ruinous; the garden let out for forty-four years, the barns fallen and stolen away, the court made a common passage, wherein the people prescribe already; so as in very short time there will be nothing left but a name of Warwick. . . .' (fn. 127) A survey made in the same year by Thomas Dabridgcourt, the royal surveyor for the county, formed the basis of a report to the solicitor general when the grant to Sir Fulke Greville the poet was passed in 1604; it confirmed that 'there is such decay in the leads, tiles, boards, glass, iron and other parts thereof, that it raineth in most places of the castle, and the timber work thereby in many places rotted especially in the principal parts called the queen's lodgings; a whole window in the great chamber is fallen down, and part of one of the towers, and many places of the outward wall of the said castle are likewise fallen down. . . .' The materials, if the castle were demolished, were valued at £470, but no estimate for repairing it was put forward. (fn. 128)

At about this time a plan of the castle at basement level was drawn by Robert Smythson (d. 1614). (fn. 129) The exact date and circumstances of its preparation are unknown, (fn. 130) but its detailed character suggests that it was commissioned by a patron, perhaps by Fulke Greville himself, before any alterations were put in hand. The line of the walls and the principal towers were much as they are today, but the structure on the courtyard side of the Bear and Clarence Towers was still in existence. No complete building is shown on the summit of the mound. Between the domestic range and Caesar's Tower were the timberframed kitchen and a brewhouse, while the stable block and barn stood in the outer court. Other timber-framed ranges were attached to the inside of the north-east curtain wall; their fireplaces and the corbels which supported their roofs are still visible. The position of the 'new building' mentioned in 1590, probably the lodging erected for Queen Elizabeth, is not certain. Within the angle of the castle wall at the south-west end of the domestic range Smythson's plan shows the two basement rooms which now lie below the State Bedroom and the Boudoir. This basement is not a medieval structure and may have formed part of the king's works carried out in the early 16th century. (fn. 131) On the other hand it may represent the stone foundation of a timber-framed building erected for the queen's visit; in particular the large staircase which gave access to the courtyard in Smythson's time is of a type not usually found before the Elizabethan period. An addition to the castle in this position, remote from the service quarters, would have enjoyed all the amenities appropriate to a royal suite.

There is no reason to doubt that the castle was in very great decay when Sir Fulke Greville obtained it. Dugdale heard that Greville spent more than £20,000 in repairing and adorning it, making it 'a place not only of great strength but extraordinary delight, with most pleasant gardens, walks and thickets, such as this part of England can hardly parallel'. (fn. 132) The garden which included the winding path up the mount from the Watergate Tower is known to have been made at this time. (fn. 133) Work was in progress in 1610 when £450 were spent on buildings and reparations while the household was lodged at Wedgnock. (fn. 134) This was still the case in 1614 when works at the castle cost £233. (fn. 135) At some date before 1614, however, Thomas Throckmorton's agent wrote to him from Warwick that 'the judges lie at the castle with my lord this sessions. . . . There is great preparations at the castle and my lord doth intend to keep a very great house, as I have heard'. (fn. 136) The extent of Greville's alterations to the castle is unknown and it is hard to account for the very large sum said to have been spent there. No doubt improvements to the grounds and repairs to the walls and towers absorbed much of it. He almost certainly remodelled the south-west end of the domestic range, perhaps replacing in stone the decayed timber superstructure occupied by Elizabeth and giving the building a new two-storied front towards the courtyard. This front has an embattled parapet and a symmetrical arrangement of tall mullioned and transomed windows with a central square projection. It is possible that Robert Smythson had something to do with the design although the work may not have been completed before his death. The facade was continued eastwards beyond the Spy Tower, converting a narrow space which had separated the chapel from the great chamber into an internal passage. The upper stages of the Spy Tower may have been rebuilt by Greville or have been a legacy from Henry VIII's time. The present chapel, standing on a medieval undercroft, is also attributed to Greville. Both the chapel and its vestibule (now the vestry) have windows with four-centred traceried heads in the late Gothic style but these were probably renewed in the 18th century. The original access to the screens passage at the east end of the Great Hall appears to have been by way of a forebuilding approached by external steps; Greville may have replaced this by the two-storied porch which was again rebuilt in the 18th century. Other alterations could have included the removal of the service rooms from the east end of the hall to the basement. It is clear that large sums were spent on internal fittings, all of which have now disappeared. An inventory made on Greville's death lists many valuable sets of tapestry hangings, illustrating biblical and classical stories, among which one depicting the seven planets was in the 'new dining chamber'. (fn. 137) The medieval stables were evidently still serviceable in Greville's time since they were in use in 1605 when cavalry horses were stolen out of them for the Gunpowder Plot conspirators following their meeting at Dunchurch. (fn. 138)

With the onset of the Civil War, preparations were made by Robert, Lord Brooke, to put the castle in a state of defence. Between January and May 1642 the garden walls and the wall on top of the mount were raised, bulwarks were begun and revetted with timber, wheels were obtained for two guns, the larger of which weighed 208 lbs., and two barrels of gunpowder were bought. (fn. 139) From 7 to 23 August 1642 (fn. 140) Sir Edward Peyto of Chesterton with a parliamentary garrison was besieged in the castle, in the absence of Lord Brooke, by a force commanded by the Earl of Northampton, the royalist Lord Lieutenant of the county. After William Dugdale, in his capacity as herald, had summoned the garrison to lay down their arms and on their refusal had proclaimed them traitors at the castle gates, (fn. 141) shots were fired at the castle by the besiegers. But, in the words of Sir Richard Bulstrode, 'our endeavours for taking it were to little purpose, for we had only two small pieces of cannon which were brought from Compton House, belonging to the Earl of Northampton, and those were drawn up to the top of the church steeple, and were discharged at the castle, to which they could do no hurt, but only frightened them within the castle, who shot into the street, and killed several of our men'. Hearing of the approach of the Earl of Essex to Southam, Lord Northampton marched his force away towards Worcester. (fn. 142) Prisoners taken at Edgehill in October were confined in Caesar's (fn. 143) and Guy's Towers, including in the latter the young Earl of Lindsay who had been brought to the castle with his mortally wounded father; Lord Brooke visited him the following February late at night, when he was in his bed in the second chamber there. (fn. 144) Thirty eight carts containing goods belonging to the royal party were also brought in after the battle, and unloaded in a wood cellar called by the soldiers the 'plunder house', about which there was later much enquiry. (fn. 145)

Major John Bridges was appointed governor of the castle in 1643 (fn. 146) and a garrison was maintained there with artillery and other stores until 1659. (fn. 147) In January 1645, when its strength was probably greatest, there were 302 soldiers in three companies under the governor and captains John Halford and Matthew Bridges, with 3 lieutenants, 3 ensigns, 6 sergeants, 15 mounted scouts, 6 drummers, a commissary, a fueller, a gunsmith, 2 gunners, 2 gunners' mates, 8 matrosses belonging to the guns, and 7 grooms; board was also provided for James Cook, a surgeon, (fn. 148) and John Bryan, Vicar of Holy Trinity, Coventry. (fn. 149) Between 1643 and 1645 work was continued upon the bulwarks, which were turfed over, and also upon redoubts and a blockhouse. A sallyport and door were made and the castle drawbridge repaired. A timber platform was constructed on the mount, the stairs up to it were repaired, and another platform made in Guy's Tower; (fn. 150) both platforms were presumably for guns. The sallyport may be identified with a doorway roughly cut through in the concealed angle of the Clarence Tower. A series of iron hooks on the outer face of the barbican, from which woolsacks are said to have been hung to protect the stonework and window openings from shots, probably dates from this time. (fn. 151) All the furniture of value belonging to the family was stored in a room called the wardrobe, while beds were installed in a great many rooms throughout the castle, including those in the towers and gatehouse. The second story in the barbican was called the capstan room from the machinery for working the drawbridge, and the fourth room in Guy's Tower contained a muniment chest and large square table for evidences, as well as a bed. (fn. 152) A caretaker was employed to air goods from 1646 until 1652 when the dowager Lady Brooke returned to the castle. He was then deputed to certify its dilapidations (fn. 153) and the Council of State sent surveyors and recommended a grant of £1,000 from the sale of delinquents' estates. (fn. 154) Prisoners from the Second Civil War (fn. 155) and the battle of Worcester (fn. 156) were brought to the castle and confined there. The governor from 1649 was Colonel Joseph Hawksworth (fn. 157) who was also an official of the young Lord Brooke's household (fn. 158) and acted as standard-bearer at his funeral, when majors Matthew and William Bridges also carried bannerols. (fn. 159) On 23 April 1660 Colonel Hawksworth was ordered by the Council of State to disband the garrison and deliver possession of the castle, together with the arms and ammunition in it, to Lord Brooke. (fn. 160)

Soon after he gained possession Lord Brooke started to provide new outbuildings for the castle and to remodel the principal rooms on the lines of the great houses of the day. In 1667 a stable and coachhouse, costing about £650 and £520 respectively, were completed in the outer court. (fn. 161) These buildings, described as 'after the new mode' (fn. 162) appear in many 18th-century prints; they had hipped roofs and dormer windows, their two-storied facades being divided by pilasters and pierced on the upper floors by rows of small oval lights. In 1669 an agreement was made with Samuel Dunkley and Francis Overton to build washhouses and a laundry; this range still stands outside the curtain wall to the south of the gatehouse. In the same year Roger Hurlbut (fn. 163) contracted to wainscot the Great Hall and his brother William was sent into the West of England to see the house of Sir Ralph Bankes, presumably Kingston Lacy (Dorset), designed by Sir Roger Pratt and completed four years earlier. In 1670 William Hurlbut received the first payment under articles of agreement for 'altering the rooms' at the castle. (fn. 164) Although the accounts for 1672-6 are missing, it may be assumed that this agreement covered the whole range of state apartments to the south-west of the Great Hall. These are now known as the Red Drawing Room, the Cedar Room, the Green Drawing Room, the State or Queen Anne's Bedroom, and the Boudoir. What is now the Armoury Passage was partitioned off along the courtyard side of the three most westerly rooms. Some of the bedrooms above, including the socalled Italian Room, were apparently refitted at the same time.

The Hurlbuts were Warwickshire men, carpenters by trade. Their earliest work at the castle, the wainscot in the Great Hall, was comparatively plain, with large bolection-moulded panels. (fn. 165) It is possible that the far more sophisticated fittings in the State Rooms were partly inspired by the visit to Kingston Lacy where pioneer work of this type could have been studied. In 1671 over 57 cwt. of cedar boards were brought to the castle from London, (fn. 166) making it clear that the Cedar Room was included in Hurlbut's contract. This is the largest and perhaps the most magnificent of the apartments. The walls are divided into large panels, the frieze above them consisting of smaller panels bearing intricately carved foliage and shields of arms. There are enriched mouldings to doorcases, cornice, and panelling, while the pointed embrasures which had housed the medieval windows are outlined with carved arabesques. The heavily moulded plaster ceiling has enriched modillions, wreaths, and other ornament in high relief. The other rooms are fitted out in similar style and on an almost equally lavish scale. The overmantel in the Green Drawing Room is framed by carved drapery and that in the Boudoir with garlands of leaves and fruit, a type of naturalistic carving which probably originated in Holland and was soon to be perfected by Grinling Gibbons. A small final payment to William and Roger Hurlbut 'for the new buildings' was made in 1678, the year following their patron's death. (fn. 167) It is possible that this new work, of which the missing accounts may have contained details, consisted of the extension at the north-east end of the medieval range which now contains most of the castle's private apartments. There have been so many alterations to these rooms, which were refaced externally in the 18th century and gutted by fire in 1871, that their original date remains obscure. Fulke Greville may have made an addition here in the early 17th century, but it is significant that between 1674 and 1681 the number of hearths in the castle was increased from 47 to 54. (fn. 168) The extension was certainly in existence by the mid 18th century when the courtyard front had a row of seven sash windows to each of the two upper floors. (fn. 169) Thomas Baskerville, who visited the castle c. 1678 saw many men at work upon it. Within the gate was 'a fair court, and within that encompassed with a pale and dainty bowling green, set about with laurel, firs and other curious trees'. (fn. 170) He also remarked the single Scotch fir on top of the mount, which figures in many prints.

A pair of stone pillars for the castle's 'great gates' at the entrance to the stable court were made by Samuel Dunkley in 1680. A wall by the river side and a level walk there were constructed in 1685, and in 1695 a new greenhouse of brick and stone was built, probably in a position close to the mount on the south side. On 4 November that year William III was entertained in state at the castle. Illuminations from pitch and tar devised by Nicholas Paris were burnt on Guy's Tower, (fn. 171) and 100 gallons of punch were provided in Guy's Pot for the people. (fn. 172)

In 1713 a piece of the castle wall, probably that between Caesar's Tower and the domestic buildings, was taken down and rebuilt by Samuel Dunkley. A corbelled turret, resembling the 'crow's-nest' on the north-west side of the castle, disappeared from this part of the wall at about this date. Francis Smith apparently acted as surveyor for the work and from at least 1731 until 1735 he was retained by Lord Brooke at an annual salary. A number of sash windows, including Gothic windows in the Cedar Room, were probably inserted in 1730, when over £250 was spent on the south side of the castle and within it. (fn. 173)

Francis, Lord Brooke (later first Earl of Warwick of the Greville line) came of age in 1740 and soon afterwards there began a period of major improvement to the castle and its surroundings which was to last for fifty years. In 1744 the grounds adjoining the east of the castle were extended following an inquisition ad quod damnum, by which Lord Brooke was permitted to close a footway leading from Saunders Row down past the garden wall of the castle to a watering-place on the river called High Ladsome, and thence along the river for 100 yards to a second watering-place called Low Ladsome. A new path was made to go straight from Saunders Row to Low Ladsome, where Lord Brooke had already constructed a public well or cistern, while High Ladsome and the old path were taken into the castle grounds. (fn. 174) The castle chapel was being fitted up in 1748 when it was noted that the Gothic ceiling was ornamented with the different coats of arms belonging to the family. (fn. 175) The window over the altar is said to have been given by the Earl of Exeter in 1759. (fn. 176)

In 1753 an agreement was made with Lancelot Brown to rebuild the porch and stairs into the Great Hall, to remove the steps that led into the garden (presumably those from the courtyard to the Watergate Tower), to fill in a sunken area in front of the hall and make a way from the domestic offices to Caesar's Tower, to rebuild parts of the 'bearhouses', and finally to level the courtyard and make a coachway into it. (fn. 177) The 'bearhouses' were the Bear and Clarence Towers, divided from the former rear portion of the unfinished artillery fort by what was known as the 'Bear Court'. (fn. 178) These and other works, including an icehouse, were completed in 1755, but earth-moving operations to the park under Brown's direction continued for some years longer. (fn. 179)

Internal improvements to the domestic buildings had evidently begun by 1754. In that year Thomas Gray visited the castle and described some of Lord Brooke's recent activities: 'He has sash'd the great apartment . . . and being since told, that square sash windows were not Gothic, he has put certain whimwams withinside the glass, which appearing through are to look like fretwork. Then he has scooped out a little burrough in the massy walls of the place for his little self and his children, which is hung with paper and printed linnen, and carved chimney-pieces, in the exact manner of Berkley-square or ArgyleBuildings'. (fn. 180) The last sentence probably refers to the rooms north-east of the Great Hall where the medieval walls on the river side were reduced in thickness. (fn. 181) A later visitor remarked that the earl 'by diminishing the walls, has made many that were before small closets, comfortable rooms'. (fn. 182)

More ambitous alterations were put in hand after 1763 when the architect employed by the earl was Timothy Lightoler, (fn. 183) a Lancashire man. (fn. 184) His most important contribution was a new two-storied block on the courtyard side of the Great Hall which contained a large dining room on the ground floor, the existing porch beside it being extended forwards to form part of the same frontage. The exterior, with its embattled parapet, large mullioned and transomed windows, and pointed archways, was designed to match the earlier domestic buildings. The block was roofed with slate from Hawkshead (Lancs.), brought by water via Chepstow to Stratford-uponAvon. In 1766-7 the courtyard front of the private apartments to the east of the porch was refaced in a similar style to Lightoler's design, and the turret beside the porch was partly rebuilt. Internal alterations to these apartments included the conversion of the two ground-floor rooms nearest Caesar's Tower into a new library. During the period 1763-9, when improvements to the range west of the Great Hall were also being made, Lightoler examined most of the accounts of the individual craftsmen. The masons were Job Collins, who was apparently responsible for most of the work, and Thomas Briscoe. Wainscotting in the new dining room - an unusual feature at this period and perhaps introduced for a deliberately archaic effect - was by William Hands. The plasterer was Robert Moore whose ornamental ceilings included one in the new dining room carrying a geometrical pattern of interlacing ribs in the Jacobean style. Francis and William Hiorn supplied marble chimney-pieces for both old and new rooms. Benjamin King was responsible for wood-carving, including two very large and ornate picture frames for the new dining room; he also repaired existing carving in the State Rooms.

Additions to the range west of the Great Hall at this period included a new spiral staircase on the south side of the Green Drawing Room, a projecting Gothic window in Lady Louisa's dressing room near the south-west end of the range, and a pinnacle on the roof carrying a vane from which a wind-dial was worked in a room below. To improve communications between bedrooms at the two ends of the castle a passage was cut over the Great Hall and the Cedar Room on the river side in the thickness of the outer wall. (fn. 185) A portico was removed from the Garden Tower, now the Watergate Tower, in 1763, and the passage in the thickness of the outer wall connecting it with the other apartments was rebuilt in 1770. A portcullis was made by David Saunders in 1765, presumably for the gatehouse. Throughout these alterations 'Gothick' mouldings are repeatedly mentioned and paper patterns were made for the glaziers to cut 'Gothick window heads'.

Outside the castle Job Collins began work in 1768 on two towers and a parapet wall at the summit of the mount, which were added to the surviving medieval wall there. In 1765 the coachhouse and stables, built a century before in the outer courtyard, were demolished, and the courtyard was enlarged; a new curving enclosure wall was built in 1767 by Job Collins, who also widened the bridge into the castle and built a new lodge and entrance gates facing Castle Street. In 1765 Robert Mylne 'gave advice to Lord Warwick on outward court, entrance into garden, and various particulars'. (fn. 186) Between 1768 and 1771 stables for hackneys, hunters, and coach-horses, designed in the Classical style, were built by Collins on a site in Castle Street where houses had been demolished to make way for them. (fn. 187) In the gardens the hothouse, for which 100 pineapple plants had been bought in 1764, was taken down and a new one built in the Vineyard in 1769- 1770. The work was carried out by William Eboral who seems to have succeeded Job Collins as principal mason at this time.

Stone for these works both inside and outside the castle came mainly from a quarry in the Vineyard until 1764, when some stone was also brought from the Priory quarry, and from a quarry at Milverton. This was supplemented by small amounts of Hornton stone and blue stone for special purposes such as sills and lintels. After 1764 a quarry on the earl's land at Emscote (fn. 188) was used exclusively, the stone being carried down the river on a boat built for the purpose, to be landed at a wharf by the castle mill. The Vineyard quarry was filled in in 1766. The cost of the earl's works as a whole for the eight accounting years 1764-71 amounted to about £9,250.

Under George Greville, who succeeded his father in 1773, the finishing touches were put to the alterations of the rooms. New windows, including those in the Great Hall and the Cedar Room, cost £367. The ceiling of the State Bedroom was replaced by William Hanwell, plasterer, apparently to its original design. Benjamin King was still employed for carving and gilding; he supplied some 20 picture frames, presumably for the Vandyke portraits in the Cedar Room and for other pictures which formed part of the notable collection acquired by the second earl. (fn. 189) A gateway was cut through the curtain wall on the north side of the mount in 1775 and an arch built by William Eboral, who also in 1776 completed one of the towers on the mount which had been left unfinished by Job Collins. (fn. 190)

In 1777 after an inquisition ad quod damnum the earl was allowed to stop up part of Avon Lane, otherwise Watercart Lane, which led from the top of West Street to the washing place for cattle and cistern for water at Lower Ladsome, on condition that he provided for the town an alternative washing place and cistern with a pump on the north side of West Street beside Methuen Bridge. The watering place was made and the garden wall altered accordingly to take in Lower Ladsome. The earl was at the same time empowered to stop up part of Barford Lane bordering the south-east part of the park, extending from the Green Gate in the pale fence to an angle in the fence at the Ram Brook, in exchange for an alternative route to the Warmington turnpike over Fordmill Meadow and Close. (fn. 191) During the summer of 1780 William Baylis, surveyor, was employed to draw up plans for an increasingly ambitious scheme to extend the castle grounds north-westwards into the town, and to brief Mr. Eboral to give evidence concerning it (fn. 192) at another inquisition ad quod damnum in January 1781. Thus the stopping up and taking in of the following streets was sanctioned: Saunders Row from its junction with Meetinghouse Lane southwards to where the corner of the castle garden wall had been, the lane running from thence along the north of the castle garden to Brittain Lane (otherwise Rosemary Lane), and Brittain Lane from the eastward end of Meetinghouse Lane for 200 yds. curving in front of the castle. The earl was to lay out a new road from the eastward end of Meetinghouse Lane cutting through gardens in Castle Street, where a house was to be demolished to make way for it. (fn. 193) The scheme extended to the back gates of the 'Cross Keys', a large inn belonging to the castle which was spared for the time being. The houses belonging to the estate then taken into the grounds were demolished and in 1786 a greenhouse was begun on part of the cleared land. This was a stone building with Gothic windows, built especially to house the Warwick Vase, and was designed and executed by William Eboral. (fn. 194) The Warwick Vase, found in 1770 in the bed of a lake at Hadrian's Villa near Tivoli and sent to England by Sir William Hamilton, (fn. 195) had been set up in the centre of the courtyard with a tent over it in winter and in 1788 was removed into the greenhouse.

In 1788 the earl obtained an Act of Parliament which enabled him to build a new bridge in place of the Great Bridge, which had long been in decay, at a place 260 yds. upstream. (fn. 196) A report in 1774 by Robert Mylne had already advocated a new bridge upstream away from the weirs, (fn. 197) and the earl's new Banbury road as far as the toll house was evidently aligned with this site in view. A model of the new bridge was made in 1788 by David and William Saunders who also provided piles and other timber work for it. Stone from the Emscote quarry was boated to the bridge. (fn. 198) The first stone of the abutment was laid in 1789 by William Eboral, (fn. 199) who was responsible for all the masonry. (fn. 200) He has been credited with the design of the bridge (fn. 201) but in view of its close similarity to the Leafield Bridge, (fn. 202) it is more likely that the same basic design was used again, with greater width between the parapets. The parapets themselves consist of a more conventional Classical balustrade. The segmental arch is 3½ ft. wider but tradition has it that the timber centering from the Leafield Bridge was used a second time. (fn. 203) The new bridge was opened in 1793 (fn. 204) and was to be maintained by the earl for the first seven years, after which it became the responsibility of the trustees of King Henry VIII's Estate. It had cost at least £3,258, exclusive of the approach roads. These were laid out, in accordance with the Act, from the new toll-house in the angle of the Whitnash road in a straight line over the bridge, across St. Nicholas Meadow to the south end of Gerrard Street, and thence through a garden belonging to the earl into the upper part of a road called the Back Hills, and so into the east end of Jury Street opposite St. Peter's Chapel. (fn. 205) Work on this latter part of the road, from Gerrard Street northwards, was already in progress in 1788, when earth was removed to lower the crest of the hill, now Castle Hill. (fn. 206) As soon as this stretch was thrown open, (fn. 207) the earl was empowered to stop up and take in Castle Street and the former Castle Hill from the north-east corner of the 'Cross Keys' southward to the old bridge, as well as the remaining part of the Back Hills south of its junction with Vineyard Lane. (fn. 208) Houses in Mill Street, the Back Hills, and Castle Street, among them the porter's lodge, were being demolished in 1787 and 1788, and it is likely that the 'Cross Keys' was then pulled down. The walls round the new grounds were built by William Eboral in 1789. The remaining length of road, from the new toll-house to the south end of Gerrard Street, was under construction in 1790. (fn. 209) The new road, which was banked up above the level of any possible flood, was thrown open in 1792, but was not accepted by the turnpike trustees until 1793. (fn. 210) The west end of St. Nicholas Meadow, cut off by the new road, was granted to the earl, and the large pond, which existed there until after 1851, probably resulted from getting gravel for the road. The last of the new roads to be made was the Barford road to its junction with the new turnpike at the Asps in 1790-92 when the old road to Barford through the south-east part of the park was levelled. The Great Bridge itself became the earl's property on completion of the new one, but not long afterwards it collapsed in a flood, and now remains a picturesque ruin. (fn. 211)

An ornamental bank of earth was placed in the castle courtyard in 1789 and trees planted on it, and probably the similar banks outside the wall beside the Bear and Clarence Towers were also made then. The archway from the courtyard between these towers, with its bridge over the castle ditch, probably dates from this time, (fn. 212) when the removal of the 'Cross Keys' first made feasible a road within the grounds outside the ditch instead of along the bottom of it. The new porter's lodge, incorporated in a stone gatehouse, was built in 1796-7 by Samuel Muddiman and John Williams on the site of a large house in Castle Hill which had been tenanted by Dr. Hadow. The approach from the lodge to the castle is cut through the rock, in which cellars of former houses on the Back Hills can still be seen.

The estate as a whole was approaching a financial crisis in 1802. Loans for the new works, which had totalled £33,930 in 1796, had been reduced to £14,490, but this was of little significance compared with a debt of £81,500 still owing to Lord Bagot for his estate of about 2,500 acres in Tachbrook purchased by the Earl of Warwick in 1800. (fn. 213) In the crash which followed, the earl found himself in the position of a bankrupt. (fn. 214) Estates in Somerset, Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire were sold, (fn. 215) and William James was appointed receiver from 1804. The workmen employed on the castle and grounds were dismissed, but the quarrymen at Emscote were kept on and the stone sold, much of it in 1807 to the trustees of the new Christ Church in Birmingham. In 1806 the Earl of Warwick's remaining estates were conveyed to the earls of Galloway and Upper Ossory as trustees and the receivership terminated, but as late as 1808 a man was employed to keep possession of the castle in the absence of the family. The trustees' administration came to an end in 1813. (fn. 216)

No extensions to the castle appear to have been undertaken during the first half of the 19th century, but permanent improvements at this time included the underbuilding of the foundations of Caesar's Tower in 1807. A small grapery or vine-house was built in 1821 and a new pine house in 1847. Hot air stoves were installed in the castle in 1830, and new icehouses built. In 1830-1 the Great Hall was repaved with red and white Venetian marble, the ceiling was removed, and a new timber roof designed by Ambrose Poynter was erected by Thomas Mears of Warwick. (fn. 217) Queen Victoria was received at the castle by the fourth Earl of Warwick in 1858 when she and Prince Albert planted trees in the garden. The 'recently erected additions to the castle' which she is said to have visited (fn. 218) were probably to the private apartments. At about this period these were extended towards Caesar's Tower by the addition of an extra room, a new entrance hall, and a grand staircase. Two of the rooms facing the courtyard were converted into a large library while the 'waiting room' between this and the Great Hall was remodelled. Between 1861 and 1863 Anthony Salvin was employed as architect. (fn. 219) His work appears to have included the restoration of the Watergate Tower and alterations to the river front of the domestic range. Here the remaining Georgian windows were Gothicised and an elaborate stone balcony was built overlooking the river outside the room to the north-east of the Great Hall. Shortly before 1871 an extra story containing nurseries had been added above the bedroom floor over the State Dining Room; (fn. 220) this was concealed on the courtyard side behind the high parapet.

A serious fire in 1871 caused considerable damage. It broke out in Lady Warwick's dressing room in the north front of the castle immediately east of the Great Hall and spread rapidly through the private apartments. The Great Hall was gutted but its massive west wall and a gap in the roof cut by firemen checked the flames before they could reach the State Rooms beyond. The roof above the State Dining Room fell in but the ceiling of this room, though damaged by water, did not collapse in spite of the destruction of the rooms above, and only the panelling near the door was damaged. All other rooms on the north-east side, however, were burnt out. Almost all pictures, books, and furniture of value were saved, apart from bedroom furniture, and the only serious losses were in the Great Hall, where an antique marble bust of Hercules, a Greek sarcophagus, and much armour, including the buff coat in which Lord Brooke was killed at Lichfield, were destroyed. (fn. 221)

The restoration, aided by a public subscription which ultimately reached £9,651, had already started in March, 1872. It was carried out under Anthony Salvin's direction by J. Bromwich of Rugby. (fn. 222) The main structural walls were found to be unharmed even by the great heat. Two medieval doorways, thought to be those which had given access to the buttery and pantry in the 14th century, were discovered at the east end of the hall. Four blocked apertures high in the south wall, corresponding with windows in the outer wall which hitherto had lit only the passage cut through in 1763, were re-opened as clerestory windows. (fn. 223) The stonework of the windows overlooking the Avon was renewed, and the roof, formerly of tie-beam construction, was rebuilt as a hammer-beam roof of stained pitch-pine, slightly higher than before. A six-branch chandelier of 50 lights was installed, the marble pavement was relaid, and a massive new chimney-piece, consisting of a stone hood on brackets carved with lions' heads, was introduced. J. Syer of London was still restoring damaged armour in 1874. (fn. 224) Apparently little change was made in the reconstruction of the other apartments and by 1875 the work was complete.

The Castle Estate in Warwick

THE MANOR OF WARWICK

The manor of Warwick first occurs as an appurtenance of the castle in 1263 (fn. 225) but it is uncertain how it came to be part of that estate. Henry de Beaumont held no property inside the town at the time of Domesday but his brother the Count of Meulan had twelve houses and was the largest lay owner after the king. (fn. 226) Henry acquired his brother's Warwickshire estates in about 1088 (fn. 227) and, having custody of the castle, presumably succeeded in establishing manorial jurisdiction over the whole town. The manor, sometimes described as the borough (fn. 228) or town (fn. 229) of Warwick, descended with the castle until 1604.

There was only one manor, but two separate courts were held, one at the castle gate, the other within the borough. (fn. 230) By 1840 the first, styled the castle court, met every three weeks on a Wednesday, (fn. 231) and the second, or borough court, met, probably at the same interval, on a Monday. (fn. 232) At a view of frankpledge of the castle court in 1424, presentments were made by tithingmen for 'Coton', 'Saltesford', 'Smythestrete', 'Weststrete', Ultra Pontem, 'Moyton', 'Woodecote', and 'Woodelowe', (fn. 233) all suburbs or hamlets outside the town walls, while at a view for the borough court in 1528, presentments were made by the constables for the High Pavement, Castle Street, 'Ie Jury', and the Market Place, (fn. 234) all within the walls.

The stewardship of the manor or town of Warwick was usually joined with the office of constable of the castle. In 1446, however, when the heir was the queen's ward, the Crown appointed George Assheby, the clerk of the signet, to the stewardship alone. (fn. 235) John Huggeford was appointed by the Crown in 1478 as constable and steward, with a fee of 10 marks yearly for the stewardship, (fn. 236) and in 1502 Edward Belknap was similarly appointed, having also a mansion in Warwick called 'Ie stewardys place', (fn. 237) which thereafter went with the office. Later stewards included Walter Devereux and Edward Belknap in 1511, (fn. 238) Sir Francis Bryan and Sir William Compton in 1523, (fn. 239) and Sir John Dudley in 1532, (fn. 240) some of whom probably executed the office by deputy. The 'steward's place' was granted to Robert Throckmorton in 1553 on his appointment as constable and steward, (fn. 241) and the reversion of it was included in the grant of the castle to Ambrose Dudley in 1562. (fn. 242) By 1576, however, the 'steward's place' had become the shire hall while the steward's garden belonging to it, lying behind the shire hall garden, was reckoned as part of the waste of the manor. (fn. 243)

The manor of Warwick was excluded from the grant of the castle to Sir Fulke Greville in 1604 (fn. 244) and remained with the Crown. In 1610-11 a grant of the manor to Henry, Prince of Wales, together with parts of the castle estate already the property of Sir Fulke Greville, (fn. 245) appears not to have taken effect, and in 1617 it was leased to trustees for Charles, then Prince of Wales. (fn. 246) In 1628 this lease was assigned to trustees nominated by the mayor, commonalty and citizens of London, paying yearly £139 to the king's receiver. (fn. 247) They in turn assigned it in 1631 to William Bolton, citizen and grocer of London, (fn. 248) who had already purchased the reversion in 1629, (fn. 249) at a rent to the Crown of £108, since certain copyhold houses in Mill Street and a quarter of the Packmores had been conveyed away by the corporation of London. (fn. 250) The manor was included in a Bolton family settlement in 1640, on the marriage of William's son Stephen, also a citizen and grocer of London, with Frances Christmas, (fn. 251) and in 1695 their son, William Bolton Esq. of Warwick, settled it on William Bolton, merchant, the son of his kinsman, William Bolton of Birmingham, gent., in expectation of the son's marriage with Mary Jemmat, daughter of the Vicar of St. Mary's. (fn. 252) The heirs of this youngest William Bolton were apparently two married daughters, since in 1732 Samuel Clarke, Esq., Anne his wife and Mary Hoare, widow, were lord and ladies of the manor, (fn. 253) and it was from two coheiresses of the Bolton family that Lord Brooke acquired the manor in 1742, (fn. 254) since which time it has again descended with the castle. The rental in that year contained the names of 31 copyhold tenants. (fn. 255) There is no record of a court leet being held on behalf of the earl since the corporation of Warwick was granted a court leet in its charter of 1554. (fn. 256) In 1819 the earl's court baron was hearing presentments of encroachments in the shape of steps, railings or porticoes projecting into the streets, which were regarded as the waste ground of the manor. (fn. 257) The jury at the same court set out the bounds of the manor, showing that it included the whole of the parishes of St. Mary and St. Nicholas as well as land in Budbrooke, Hatton, and Beausale formerly in Wedgnock Park. (fn. 258)

THE TEMPLE MANOR

Roger, Earl of Warwick (1119-53), granted a small manor beyond the bridge on the south side of the town to the Knights Templars. (fn. 259) It became one of a group of manors contributory to the preceptory of Balsall until the confiscation of the Templars' lands in 1308. After being administered for a brief period by the sheriff, it was committed in the same year to Guy Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, together with Balsall itself, Sherbourne, and Fletchampstead. In 1309, however, Balsall and the other Warwickshire manors of the Templars were entrusted to another royal keeper, Alexander de Cumpton, who rendered account of them until 1314, when he recorded their handing over to the Knights Hospitallers. (fn. 260) But in fact, on the earl's death in 1315, the Temple manor and Sherbourne were still part of his estates, (fn. 261) and were committed with them, during the minority of the heir, to John Pecche, who administered them until 1324. In that year, shortly before the heir came of age, the Temple manor was effectively transferred to the Hospitallers. (fn. 262) It was certainly part of their property in 1338, (fn. 263) again administered from Balsall, and continued so until the Dissolution. In 1549 it was granted to John Dudley, (fn. 264) and reunited with the castle estate.

Although leased in 1585 under the name of the Temple Farm by Ambrose Dudley to his tenant, Richard Brookes, for 21 years, (fn. 265) it was nevertheless leased by the Crown in 1590 for 15½ years to John Randall of Chalfont St. Giles. He later assigned this lease to Thomas Wagstaffe, who in turn assigned it to Thomas Oldnall. The latter held it until the term expired in 1605, (fn. 266) but although he obtained a fresh lease from the Crown for a further 40 years, (fn. 267) this appears to have been in the nature of a sub-lease, and the legal title passed in another Crown lease made in 1591 to George Kirkeham of Richmond (Surr.) for 50 years, also starting in 1605. Kirkeham had already assigned this deferred lease to his brother Edward, of the Strand (Mdx.), in 1593, (fn. 268) and he in turn assigned it in 1606 (fn. 269) to Sir Fulke Greville and made livery of seisin to him. (fn. 270) Thomas Oldnall in fact continued in possession and in 1608 was tenant of the Temple Farm under Sir Fulke Greville, (fn. 271) to whom an outright grant of it by letters patent was made in 1616-17. (fn. 272)

There were 29 tenants of the manor in 1185, (fn. 273) and they were described as freeholders in 1315 when they numbered 24. (fn. 274) In 1338 there was a small demesne in the care of a bailiff with a house and garden, a carucate of arable, 10 acres of meadow, and pasture worth £1. (fn. 275) In 1516 the whole manor was let by the Hospitallers to Sir Edward Belknap of Weston under Weatherley, (fn. 276) whose assignee Thomas Broke held it at the Dissolution in 1540. At this time there were 54 acres of arable, of which 50 were in two closes next Ford Mill, 8 acres of meadow in Hill Temple Close extending to the Avon, and pasture of 40 acres called Hill Temple beside the road leading to Warwick, 32 acres between the farm place and the river, and 16 acres in a similar close called Nether Temple. Several small plots in Bridge End were sublet. (fn. 277) By 1690 ornamental avenues had been planted across the Temple Fields to make a vista from the castle. (fn. 278)

At a view of frankpledge for the manor in 1308, the pleas and perquisites were worth 6s. 8d., (fn. 279) and the tenants still owed suit of court in 1540 but no other customs or services. (fn. 280) However, in the Crown lease to George Kirkeham in 1591 the Temple Farm was regarded as part of the manor of Warwick, and although this was later found to be mistaken, (fn. 281) the separate manor court was not revived.

The buildings of the Temple Farm stood on the outskirts of Bridge End within a rectangular moat beside the old Banbury road. (fn. 282) In 1585 they consisted of fourteen bays of building, but four of them, containing barns and stables, were burnt down in about 1590, and there was no timber on the property for repairs. (fn. 283) The remainder of the farmhouse probably stood until 1744 when part of the farm, called 'the right hand Temples', was taken into the new Temple Park. (fn. 284) The house had disappeared by 1786. (fn. 285)

A chantry chapel also stood on the manor. In 1308 a chaplain received an annual stipend of £3 out of the income of the manor to celebrate mass there for the souls of the earl's ancestors and descendants, in return for the lands given by his ancestors to the Templars. The goods of the chapel in that year included a chalice worth 8s., two pairs of vestments, an old missal, a psalter, two antiphoners, a gradual, two towels for the altar, two corporals, and a pyx. (fn. 286) By 1338 the stipend had increased to 5 marks. (fn. 287) In 1540 the farmer was bound to find a priest at a salary of £4 a year; there were no spiritualities, but oblations were a source of income. (fn. 288) In 1608 the building was described as an ancient chapel of stone, much in decay. (fn. 289) It was being repaired by the earl's workmen in 1698, and in 1704 was called 'the Temple Chapel Barn', when two stone pillars were put up and the tiled roof repaired after a storm. (fn. 290) When the Temple Park was being made, the Chapel Barn was pulled down; a party of workmen was employed to level the ground at the entrance to the park where it stood. (fn. 291) This chapel was identified in 1610 as St. Helen's, (fn. 292) and its site is approximately that of the electrical sub-station, beneath which ancient foundations were found. (fn. 293)

Ford Mill, situated on the Tach Brook near the point where the old Banbury road crossed it to enter St. Mary's parish, was included in the Temple manor in 1185 under the name of the mill of 'Alfstanesford'. (fn. 294) It descended with the manor and was valued at the fixed sum of 26s. 8d. (fn. 295) After 1590 the mill was sublet by the Crown tenant, but by 1608 the two bays of building which housed the mill were said by a jury to be considerably decayed. (fn. 296) The mill, however, continued in use, and in 1746 was let to William Collins, fellmonger. (fn. 297) During its last years it was used for dressing leather. (fn. 298) It was renovated in 1762 but was taken down in 1765 (fn. 299) and its site submerged by the New Waters in 1788. The mill stream was still visible along the northern shore in 1965, and the bank of an overflow channel, which returned the water to the Tach Brook, was indicated by a row of alder trees growing out into the lake.

WEDGNOCK PARK

The dimensions of Wedgnock Park were set down in 1845 at the time of tithe commutation, when it was held to contain 2,831 acres, made up of 1,556 acres in St. Mary's parish, 726 acres in Beausale, 203 acres in Hatton, 278 acres in Budbrooke, 41 acres in Leek Wootton, and 27 acres in Kenilworth. Only 42 acres were then in use as a deer park. The shape of Wedgnock Park was an irregular diamond, about 4 miles by 1¾, extending from the canal bridge on the Birmingham road (formerly called Wedgnock Lane) northwards to Fernhill, and from Catchems End on the south-west to Goodrest Farm on the north-east. (fn. 300) The boundary of the manor of Warwick north of the town coincided with that of the park, and the 'Duchy bank', which the jury in 1819 regarded as the manorial boundary for long stretches, (fn. 301) could be recognised in 1965 as the bank on which the park pale stood, most apparent where it crosses and recrosses Roundshill Lane.

John Rous attributed the beginning of Wedgnock Park to Henry de Beaumont (d. 1119) and says that the land first inclosed was only that known in the fifteenth century as the 'old park'. (fn. 302) It is doubtful, however, whether it was indeed inclosed so early. A manor of Wedgnock formed part of the castle estate in 1247, (fn. 303) and in 1268 it consisted of 80 acres of arable and 60 acres of meadow. (fn. 304) The first indication of a park of Wedgnock belonging to the castle is the gift before 1253 by Margery, Countess of Warwick, of the tithes of the assarts there and of pannage and venison to the hospital of St. Michael in Warwick. (fn. 305) In 1298 the park was said to consist of only 20 acres, (fn. 306) which must be an understatement unless it had been so reduced by assarts. It was probably enlarged in 1301 when the earl acquired the lands of Thomas de Charlecote (fn. 307) who in 1260 had redeemed 'the wood of Wedgnock' from a Jew. (fn. 308) Deer are mentioned in the park in 1315 (fn. 309) and it was evidently of considerable size in 1321 when it was described as an inclosed wood with pasture was worth £6 9s. 8d. and underwood a further 26s. 8d. Parts of the park fence were renewed in that year, having been destroyed in disturbances when Roger Mortimer's men held the castle. (fn. 310)

Thomas Beauchamp the elder entered into a series of exchanges in 1339 with the object of extending the park. Scattered pieces of land in Beausale and Haseley were given for lands in Beausale taken into the park. Parts of 'Hennemede', which extended into Haseley, were exchanged for parts of the same meadow within the park, and lands belonging to Beausale chapel were also acquired. (fn. 311) This chapel of St. John, also known as Cuckow church, had been endowed by Margery de Clinton in about 1220 with lands in a field called 'Rykenylesbury', and also with tithes of game taken in the park of Beausale, grazing rights there, and firewood. (fn. 312) Her second husband, John de Abetot, had held a pasture called Wedgnock in 1221-2, which is the earliest occurrence of the name, (fn. 313) and it is probable that all these lands, including the park of Beausale, were taken into Wedgnock Park in 1339. The site of Cuckow Church (fn. 314) can be identified in the park 200 yds. northeast of Bulloak Farm. (fn. 315) In 1342 the lady Scolastica, widow of Godfrey de Meaux, conveyed her share in a wood in Hatton called 'Weggenok Devele' or 'Deyvyle' to the earl; this wood adjoined another park called Wedgnock Park belonging to Thomas de Hastings in Hatton, (fn. 316) which may also later have been added to the earl's park. An area in the park named in about 1400 'the old park of Budbrooke' (fn. 317) may indicate the inclusion of yet another small park, perhaps when the manor of Budbrooke came to the earl in 1360. (fn. 318)

A commission of oyer and terminer was granted in 1347 on the complaint of Thomas Beauchamp to deal with poachers of deer in his park, among whom were a servant of the Prior of Kenilworth and a servant of John Pecche, the sometime custodian of the castle; (fn. 319) another similar commission was granted in 1366, (fn. 320) and again on complaint of Thomas, Duke of Surrey, in 1398. (fn. 321) A parker was responsible for the profits and upkeep of the park between 1394 and 1401, (fn. 322) and a keeper of the stock (instaurarius) fulfilled the same office between 1417 and 1441. Apart from a small demesne which was farmed in the ordinary way, the sale of faggots and of the grazing were the chief sources of profit, while fencing of coppice woods and other inclosures, with the repair of the park pale, were the main expenses. Sixteen mares of the earl's stud were at grass in the park in 1402 when the rest of the grazing was let at farm. A lodge named 'Rynsyllogge' occurs in 1418 and in 1431 two park gates, 'Wodecoteyate' and 'Mildethornyate', are named. (fn. 323) By 1446 the park was divided into three bailiwicks, of which one was named 'Greyndores' and another 'Rawelyns' bailiwick; (fn. 324) many appointments of the keepers responsible for them were made by the Crown between 1478 and 1547. The three keepers were subordinate to the keeper or parker of the whole park, an office usually held, with that of master of the game, by the constable of the castle for the time being. (fn. 325) John Huggeford, constable and master of the game in 1478, was also overseer of the king's stud in the county, (fn. 326) and when William Ferrour was appointed marshal of the king's stud mares and young horses in 1486, Fernhill was one of the places in which they were kept; he also had a smithy in the High Pavement in Warwick. (fn. 327) The herbage and pannage of the park were granted to Richard Smythe, the queen's yeoman of the robes, in 1486, (fn. 328) but this was converted into an annuity of 20 marks from the same date. (fn. 329) From 1515 the herbage and pannage were farmed by the constable for 10 marks, (fn. 330) but must have been worth much more.

The manor house of Goodrest was situated near the north-east angle of the park, just south of the present Goodrest farmhouse. (fn. 331) The site is marked by a deep double moat, with a small stone bridge with two four-centred arches across the eastern arm, and the remains of a large fish pool fed by the Cuttle Brook; the boundary of the park ran along the pool head at this point. The house was built by Thomas Beauchamp the younger (fn. 332) who, in 1374, obtained licence to have divine offices celebrated in his oratory there. (fn. 333) The earl's council held a meeting in 1375 at Goodrest. (fn. 334) Dugdale supposed 'it was so called, in respect that some of the Countesses of Warwick . . . retired hither when they were near the time of childbirth', (fn. 335) which is true at least of Elizabeth, the wife of Richard Beauchamp; her eldest daughter Margaret, who later became the second wife of the warrior Sir John Talbot, was born at Goodrest in 1404. (fn. 336) A bill in 1437 for plaiting withies to repair the walls and daubing them clearly indicates a timber-framed construction. (fn. 337) An old bridge over the moat was removed and doubtless rebuilt in 1441 in expectation of a visit from the earl. (fn. 338) The custody of the manor of Goodrest with the garden within the park was granted to Thomas Everley, one of the king's yeoman porters, in 1479, (fn. 339) and to another royal servant in 1485, (fn. 340) but came with the waters and fishing there to the constable in 1515 and became an adjunct of the keepership of the park. (fn. 341)

On John Dudley's attainder in 1553 Roger Ligon was granted the keeperships and other offices relating to the park, with Goodrest and Fernhill wood, and a lease of the herbage, pannage, and fishing; (fn. 342) Henry Jernegan had a further grant for 30 years starting at Ligon's death. (fn. 343) In 1559 Sir Richard Verney, probably by virtue of an assignment from Ligon, leased the park to Thomas Fisher of Warwick reserving the grazing of six or ten of his own or his friends' horses coming 'guestwise' to the park, presumably to reside at Goodrest. In 1560 Thomas Fisher undertook to build another house with a loft or lodging for a keeper, in the park near the ford leading out of the new rails into the old park. (fn. 344) At some time during John Dudley's tenure the southern end of the park, where it adjoined the Clay Pits Common, had been fenced off and leased. By 1576 this area was divided into closes and known as the 'new pasture'. In 1576 the park contained 'le olde parke, Underlowe Hilles, Hacklings, Serveshilles, Bosworth, Duneshott, Theffes Heron, Lovyhilles, Magarewoode, and Hawkysnest', and also three lodges with three gardens. (fn. 345) On the death of Ambrose Dudley in 1590 the inquest jury noted four new inclosures made to preserve coppice wood, 'wherein did grow great oaks sold by the said earl to the value of two thousand pounds'; they considered the wood growing in two of them to be useless and recommended that those fences be used for necessary repairs of the park pale. The three keepers were each receiving their ancient accustomed wage of 2d. a day. (fn. 346) In 1597 Sir Fulke Greville obtained the offices and fees relating to the park for life, namely 2d. a day as ranger, 2d. as woodward, 4d. as keeper of Goodrest manor, and 6d. as keeper of Fernhill woods; he was also master of the game. (fn. 347) The herbage, pannage, and fishing in the park and Fernhill were included in his grant at an annual rent of £6 13s. 4d., but since Roger Ligon had lived until 1584, the term of 30 years which began at his death had still seventeen years to run. (fn. 348) Sir Fulke bought this residue in 1598 from Dame Marie, widow of Sir Thomas Baskervyle, for 1,000 marks. (fn. 349) At least one sub-lease remained in being, however, since as late as 1611 one lessee assigned the pasturage of 125 beasts in the park for the following five years. (fn. 350)

Sir Fulke Greville, immediately on his appointment, undertook the repair of Goodrest manor-house the timber frame of which had shrunk and needed to be forced back into place and secured with iron clamps but was otherwise sound. The roof and floors needed repair, a new transom window of six lights was required in the buttery chamber, and the brick chimneys had to be rebuilt. Trenching was carried out in the park 'to save the deer from rotting'. (fn. 351) The receiver of the county authorized the expenditure of £300 between 1597 and 1602, (fn. 352) in which last year one of the three lodges, which had long been ruinous, was rebuilt. (fn. 353)

In 1601 the Privy Council instructed the surveyor for the county, and others, to value the park, exclusive of the herbage, pannage and fishing already let. They answered that 500 deer of all kinds had ordinarily been kept there, and not more 'for that the whole park is a sour ground, and the situation of the greatest part thereof is low and much subject to water, and the higher ground overgrown with shrubs'. If disparked, they thought the ground worth £50 in excess of the herbage. (fn. 354) To answer a further enquiry concerning Fernhill, sometimes described as part of the park and sometimes said to adjoin it, they took the evidence of an aged inhabitant who remembered deer there and a pale about it with deerleaps out of Honiley into Fernhill and out of Fernhill into Wedgnock Park. The pale between Fernhill and the park was only a 'footset pale' with no bank, and was thought to have originated when the king's stud was in Fernhill. One of the keepers had charge of Fernhill as part of his walk, and looked after the stud at that time as well as his deer. (fn. 355) The corporation of Warwick, as patrons of the rectories of St. Mary's and Budbrooke, had 13s. 4d. as tithe of the herbage, with two bucks and two does as tithe of the park yearly, and also pasturage for six oxen in the park, valued at £4, for repair of Wedgnock Lane. (fn. 356) Following this survey, Sir Fulke Greville received in 1602 an outright grant of the park, including Fernhill, Goodrest, and the three gamekeepers' lodges, but excluding the inclosures held of the Crown by other tenants, paying yearly the tithe bucks and does and £4 to the corporation and £66 13s. 4d. to the Exchequer. (fn. 357) The disparked inclosures at the southern end of the park descended with the manor of Warwick to the Bolton family. (fn. 358) In 1652, under the name of Wedgnock Park Closes, they contained 435 acres divided into 75 closes between nineteen tenants. (fn. 359)

In 1608 Sir Fulke Greville's agent estimated that there were in fact 1500 fallow deer as well as 108 red deer. (fn. 360) It appears that the household was established at Goodrest in 1609 when Sir Fulke visited Warwick before the castle had been made habitable, (fn. 361) and this arrangement still obtained in 1615. (fn. 362) An inventory of 1630 mentioned 'my Lord's chamber' there as well as the 'great chamber' in which was a tapestry of six pieces illustrating the story of Jacob. (fn. 363) In 1644 the rooms included 'the study chamber' as well as 'the Queen's chamber or the chamber over the cellar'. There were then two keepers' lodges, one occupied by Mr. (later Colonel) Hawksworth. (fn. 364)

Timber for the castle bulwarks (fn. 365) and firewood (fn. 366) were taken from the park by the parliamentary garrison and during the siege of 1642 the opposite party were accused of killing Lord Brooke's deer. (fn. 367) Colonel Hawksworth had charge of the park, probably as ranger, from 1652 to 1661, and was responsible for paling a new red deer park. (fn. 368) Between 1679 and 1682 all the north and west parts of the park were inclosed. New farmhouses were erected on the sites of the present Hill Farm, Turkey Farm, Bulloak Farm, and Deer Park Farm, and on a site close to Fernhill Farm but south of Roundshill Lane. Barns were placed where Bannerhill Farm and Bulloak barn now stand. Goodrest manor-house and a lodge, perhaps that built by Thomas Fisher in 1560, remained within the deer park which also contained a round copse of 20 acres. (fn. 369) The moat at Goodrest, sometimes called the White Moat, and the great pool there were scoured periodically; the pool head was repaired in 1702. By 1711 the Wedgnock rental came to £792, and was greater than that from the rest of the earl's property in Warwick.

In 1743 the final work of inclosure began. The deer were transferred to the new Temple Park and the office of ranger ended with Francis Chernock's retirement in 1744. A farmhouse at Prospect Farm on the new inclosures was built, possibly incorporating the former lodge, and the expenses of inclosure, including payments to four farmers for raising quickset hedges on their farms, continued until 1752. Another new farm-house at Kingstanding was in existence by 1750. In 1758 and 1760 a long hedge was planted from the great pool at Goodrest southwards for a mile and a half between the park and Mr. Wise's estate. The great barn at Goodrest was thatched in 1750, and in about 1784 the house was rebuilt outside the moat; it was further modified in 1821. A large part of Fernhill wood was grubbed up in 1789 and new farm buildings were begun there in 1793. (fn. 370) The last part of this ancient wood was removed by the tenant of the farm in about 1935. (fn. 371) In spite of the inclosures, a small number of deer remained within a square fence where the round copse stood in the Old Park. (fn. 372) In 1867 there were 70 fallow deer in an inclosure of 45 acres ; (fn. 373) they were still there in 1907, (fn. 374) and were not finally removed until after 1910. (fn. 375) The sites of the County Mental Hospital at Hatton, begun in 1849, and of the King Edward VII Memorial Sanatorium, opened in 1924, were taken out of the former park, (fn. 376) and the Wedgnock Park farms were sold to a syndicate of the tenants in 1959. (fn. 377)

CASTLE PARK

To the south of the castle lies Castle Park. This was created between 1743 and 1789, and embraced Temple Park, the Leafield, a warren with a lodge (later known as Spier's Lodge) which had been part of the estate since the 13th century, and meadow land which had been attached to the castle by the 14th century.

The warren was part of William Mauduit's estate as early as 1268. (fn. 378) In 1398 the Duke of Surrey complained of poaching there as well as in his park of Wedgnock. (fn. 379) A warrener was appointed by the Crown in 1460 to keep the warren of 'Whitlogge', (fn. 380) referred to as 'Newelogge' in 1478, (fn. 381) perhaps because the lodge provided for him had been rebuilt. Other royal appointments were made, until in 1502 the office was joined with that of constable and steward. (fn. 382) In 1542 William Pynnock, the receiver general of 'Warwick's lands', was granted a lease for 21 years, paying 20s. for the coney-warren, 6s. 8d. for pasture and 3s. 4d. for the lodge, indicating that the rabbits were still the chief asset. (fn. 383) In 1555 the pasture of the warren, together with the lodge, were let, at least until 1576. (fn. 384) The original warren was then a field of 18 acres called Lodge Close, and the lodge was situated within it. (fn. 385) In 1600 John Spier of Barford bought part of a close called the Lodge Field, and by further purchases had built up by 1610 an estate of 114 acres, doubtless including the former warren and known as the Lodge Closes, on which a house with barns and stables was described in 1613 as newly erected. (fn. 386) A 99-year lease of the whole property, lying on the further bank of the Avon in Bishop's Tachbrook, was granted in 1614 to Thomas Edwards. (fn. 387) This lease and the reversion of it still belonging to John Spier were purchased by Sir Fulke Greville in 1618 for £1500. (fn. 388) In 1672 the house, by the name of Spiers Lodge, was leased with the same group of closes (fn. 389) but the practice of letting it had ceased by 1745, when the lodge was used as a residence for the keeper of the new Temple Park. (fn. 390) It was completely rebuilt in the Gothic style in 1748. (fn. 391) In 1749 the lodge team, one of the two horse-teams belonging to the estate, was housed there, and the stables and cart-hovel were rebuilt in 1753. A new brewhouse was added in 1756. (fn. 392) The name Spiers Lodge was retained until the end of the 19th century, but it is now more usually called the Hunting Lodge.

Lands in the fields towards Barford and 'le Lee', with a meadow called 'le Lemedowe', were part of the castle estate in 1315. (fn. 393) By 1531 the meadows in this locality were named Barford Meadow, 'Brodehale Meadow', and 'Ley Meadow'; (fn. 394) they were included in a lease from the Crown to Thomas Fisher in 1554 when Barford Meadow was alternatively called Longbridge Meadow. (fn. 395) The Leafield, which was pasture, was leased in 1553 (fn. 396) and again in 1557. (fn. 397) By 1576 the Leafield and part of another meadow within it called Leafield Meadow were in the tenure of Richard Fisher and lay between West Street and the Avon, extending northward to St. Lawrence's Lane and southward to the bend in the river; a lane called Hay Lane led to them. (fn. 398) The residue of the second lease was assigned to Richard Fisher in 1579. (fn. 399) Fisher and his wife died leaving the Leafield and Leafield Meadow to their daughters in moieties for the remainder of the term. (fn. 400) Sir Fulke Greville purchased one moiety in 1607, (fn. 401) having bought out an under-tenant the previous year. (fn. 402) The other moiety he purchased in 1608. (fn. 403)

The Leafield at once became a source of profit to the estate. Fourteen mares with nine colts were turned into it, and another part was let for £24 a year. It was noted that 'the great meadow of Leafield' could have 30 beasts agisted in it. (fn. 404) Of the original meadows Broadhale Meadow and Lea Meadow descended with the manor of Warwick (fn. 405) and were not reunited with the castle estate until 1742. A small wood called Leafield Grove in the parish of Tachbrook also descended with the manor until 1675 when it was conveyed to Lord Brooke by William Bolton. (fn. 406) Probably the whole of the Leafield was included in the Temple Park in about 1745 and men working on the park were employed levelling banks and mounds there in 1749. (fn. 407) Extensive treeplanting was carried out in the Leafield in 1785. (fn. 408)

The creation of Castle Park, formerly known as Temple Park, began in 1743. A water-fence was made below Spiers Lodge to prevent the deer escaping down the river, since the Leafield and Leafield Meadow on the opposite side were included in the park and the deer were allowed to cross. When the Chapel Barn and a house called Pauls House were pulled down in 1744 and land was laid into the new park, the first of several dispossessed tenants was paid £50 compensation. Trefoil and ryegrass were sown on land formerly arable. A keeper was appointed for the Temple Park in 1744. (fn. 409) One hundred and twenty young poplar trees were bought for the park in 1747, and a nursery of young trees was established in Hollow Comb near Spiers Lodge in 1749. Trees were planted in ornamental clumps on the island and elsewhere in the park; one of the latter was named Family Clump. (fn. 410)

More houses were demolished at the bridge foot and in Bridge End between 1755 and 1760 and the land added to the park. Many elms, oaks, and ornamental trees were planted; in 1759 John Whittingham supplied 200 Scotch firs, 60 Spanish chestnut, 8 larch, 11 spruce firs, a Norway maple, a sugar maple, a 'Sir Christopher Wager's maple', an evergreen thorn, a Glastonbury thorn, and others. In 1758 a wooden bridge ten feet wide was built to Lancelot Brown's order across the river near Spiers Lodge, and in 1761 a dam was made across the Ram Brook, otherwise the Tach Brook, to form a lake extending upstream as far as the Ford Mill. (fn. 411) The Leafield bridge was begun in 1772, almost certainly to a design by Robert Mylne, who came in 1765 to survey 'the situation of Lord Warwick's bridge'; (fn. 412) William Eboral in 1786 and 1787 in the angle between it and the Whitnash road and another set up at the junction with the road to Moreton Morrell at Oakley Wood. (fn. 413) A private coach road inside the park was made at this time, running parallel to the Banbury road, and the culverts of the Tach Brook the mason was Job Collins. Including embankments for the approach roads, it was not completed until 1776 and cost at least £1,600. (fn. 414) The bridge is a light and graceful structure, the roadway rising in a curve above a single segmental arch. The parapet consists of fluted vertical balusters and piers ornamented with Coade stone medallions.

The line of the new Banbury road on the east side of the park was surveyed as early as 1779 and work began on it in 1782. In 1783 the ditches, hedges, posts, and rails were made, and in 1785 two bridges or culverts were built, presumably for the Tach Brook and millstream to Ford Mill. (fn. 415) The new road from the Asps to its junction with the Whitnash road, and along the Whitnash road to the Great Bridge, was viewed and accepted by the trustees of the Birmingham, Warwick, Warmington and Egdehill Turnpike in 1787. A toll-house was built by and millstream lengthened to pass under it. The pool head or dam in the park on the Tach Brook was taken up in 1787 by William Harrison and his labourers, the mud cleaned out, and a new earth dam, with masonry by William Eboral to the floodgates, completed in 1789. The banks of the pool were widened and the earth tipped into the deeper parts to form the New Waters, extending back to the new Banbury road and effectively blocking the old road across the park, which was now taken up and its banks and ditches levelled. (fn. 416)

In the park, several attempts were made to make the inclosed ground profitable as well as ornamental. In 1783 the grazing was let; in 1790 wheat was sown on part of it, and in 1797 it was stocked with sheep. A stone dam was made at the New Waters in 1809 when the earth dam had failed, and in 1820 repairs were carried out at Castle Park House, a sunk fence was made towards the park, and old houses in Bridge End were pulled down. (fn. 417)

THE VINEYARD

A vineyard next to the house of John of Pinley was part of the castle demesne in 1268, (fn. 418) and in 1315 a garden called 'le Wynard' was valued jointly with another garden at 6s. 8d. yearly; (fn. 419) it was a source of herbage in 1321. (fn. 420) The grass of the 'Oldewyneyerd' was let to a butcher in 1402, (fn. 421) but vines were still being cultivated. (fn. 422) Poles were carried to the vineyard from Wedgnock Park in 1431, (fn. 423) presumably to support the vines, and in 1480 an allowance was made to the bailiff for 26s. 6d. which he had spent in 'cuttyng and raylyng de lez vynez'. (fn. 424) In 1423 the pasture of the 'Oldevyneyarde' together with a dovecote was let, (fn. 425) but from 1441 (fn. 426) an official keeper or gardener of the vineyard was appointed, who presumably retained the grazing for his own use. The appointment was linked with that of porter or keeper of the castle until after 1545. (fn. 427) In 1576 John Blount was holding a house called the 'Erles Vyneyarde', with an orchard and garden of 4½ acres surrounded by a stone wall, at the will of the earl rent free, and also the Earl's Meadow in the parish of St. Nicholas, lying south of the Avon between the river and Myton Field. (fn. 428) He received a further lease from the earl in 1585 the house now being called the Vineyard House. (fn. 429) After the earl's death a similar lease was made in 1593 by the Crown to William Combe. (fn. 430) In 1599 the Vineyard House was enlarged by adding to it the site in Castle Street of two ruinous copyhold cottages also in the tenure of William Combe. (fn. 431) The vineyard was included by Sir Fulke Greville in his petition to James I, (fn. 432) and was granted to him with the castle. (fn. 433) In 1611 the residue of William Combe's lease was assigned to him by Combe's executors. (fn. 434) Although the Earl's Meadow was intended to be reserved to the king, it seems certain that Greville obtained possession of it. In 1652 the trustees for the sale of lands of the late Queen and Prince, assuming it to have been included in the grant of the manor to the Prince of Wales, sold half the meadow, containing 14 acres, to Charles Duke of Hackney, but he was forced to part with it again in 1655 to Lord Brooke. (fn. 435)

Maimed parliamentary soldiers were cared for in the Vineyard House in 1643, (fn. 436) and Lady Brooke's agent had a room there in 1644. (fn. 437) With 13 hearths taxed in 1663, it was one of the larger houses in Warwick. (fn. 438) It was pulled down in 1744, (fn. 439) and the new stables in Castle Street were begun in 1767 on or very near its site. A stone wall was then built to divide off the vineyard from the new building and an entrance made from Castle Street through an arch with iron gates, having above it the bear and ragged staff carved in stone by Benjamin King. (fn. 440) There was another entrance at the north-east angle of the vineyard wall, facing Oken's almshouses. (fn. 441) The whole of the vineyard was taken into the castle grounds when they were extended in about 1790. (fn. 442)

THE CASTLE MILL

A water mill belonging to the castle existed in the time of Henry de Beaumont, who gave the tithes of the tolls of it to his chaplain sometime between 1115 and 1119. This mill was called the mill of 'Lolesam', (fn. 443) which appears as 'Loudesham' in the 13th and 14th (fn. 444) and 'Ladsome' in the 18th century (fn. 445) when it was the name of a group of houses on the river bank 100 yards or more down stream from the castle motte. In 1268 the building contained three mills, that is, three sets of millstones. (fn. 446) By 1298 the number of mills had risen to four, (fn. 447) but these were destroyed by a flood probably in 1314. (fn. 448) The damage had still not been made good in 1321, by which time the mill-house and wheels had deteriorated, the two mills which remained in it could not grind, and the other millstones were missing. (fn. 449) It is not known whether the mill at Ladsome was ever repaired but by 1398 the castle mill is described as sub castro, and had evidently been removed to the present site below the castle. It was let at farm from that year at least until 1480. (fn. 450) In 1528 the mill, even on this higher site, was 'in sore decay by reason of the great floods that fell the last year', needing four large oak trees and twenty smaller ones to repair it. (fn. 451) It was subsequently let as 'two mills under one roof'. (fn. 452) In 1576 the tenant, William Hudson, also paid rent for a water-course taken from the Avon to work a fulling mill which he had built on his own land just above the bridge. (fn. 453) Another tenant spent at least £100 on repairs to the mill in 1597 following fresh damage by floods. (fn. 454) In 1611 Sir Fulke Greville (fn. 455) acquired the remainder of the lease of the mills which then numbered three.

In 1633 a dispute arose concerning the loaders from the Castle, Guy's Cliffe, Emscote, and Priory mills, who went with their horses into Warwick to solicit grain for grinding from the inhabitants. Witnesses agreed that one horse only was allowed from each mill, and an ancient custom was cited, whereby on Midsummer Day the four loaders rode in procession up and down the town, the loader from the Castle mill coming first, distinguished by a collar of bells on his horse, followed by his fellows from Guy's Cliffe, Emscote, and the Priory, playing a pair of bag-pipes, a fiddle and a pipe and tabor respectively. No other loader was allowed to seek grist within the town. (fn. 456) During the brief siege of the castle in 1642 the mill continued to grind for the defenders (fn. 457) but the next year a horse-mill was set up by the garrison inside the castle in case of further need. (fn. 458) In 1684 the machinery was repaired and a new mill and pair of stones added. The millwheel itself was re-made in 1688 and a new set of bells purchased for the load horse. In 1742 the stonework of the back floodgates was repaired by Job Collins. (fn. 459) In 1767-8 the mill, which until then was a lowwalled building with an extensive tiled roof, (fn. 460) was largely rebuilt under the direction of Timothy Lightoler. The walls were raised, battlements added, and a low tower built by Thomas Briscoe, the stone coming by boat from the quarry near Emscote bridge. (fn. 461) Between 1771 and 1773 the weir in the river opposite the mill (fn. 462) was repaired and re-faced, and in 1774 the same was done for the smaller weir at the head of the island. (fn. 463) In 1880 the mill was completely gutted by fire, destroying all the machinery. (fn. 464)

An engine-house adjoining the mill was in existence by 1644, (fn. 465) situated between the mill and the rock-face. Water was led from the river into a conduit beside the building, where it turned a waterwheel before falling into the mill-pool below. This wheel operated a pump by means of which water was raised from the river into a cistern in the castle courtyard. The conduit was already there in 1610, and was presumably made originally to turn an additional millwheel. (fn. 466) Like the mills themselves the engine needed constant attention. In 1656 it was re-made but a new one was probably installed in 1687. In 1705 Nicholas Paris received £30 'for making a new water engine to serve the castle with water', while at the same time £13 was paid for a new waterwheel and shaft. The engine-house was taken down and rebuilt in 1742 by Job Collins. In the rebuilding of the mill in 1767-8 a new arch was made over the water conduit and the rock was cut away above the ridge of the engine-house roof. In 1772 the pipe to the fish cistern was mended and a new pipe weighing 15 cwt. put up to the great cistern. (fn. 467) A report in 1849 on the town sewers revealed that one of them discharged into the river directly under Caesar's Tower, very near the point from which this water supply was taken, (fn. 468) which no doubt led to its abandonment for domestic purposes. The cistern was then inside Caesar's Tower.

The Castle Meadow was one of several named meadows belonging to the castle in 1315 (fn. 469) and in 1423 it was included in the lease of the castle mill, (fn. 470) with which it continued to be associated, presumably to provide hay for the miller's load horse. In 1576 the Castle Meadow was said to be seven acres and to lie on an island called the 'Ettes' between the Avon and the Temple Ditch adjoining the Great Bridge. (fn. 471) In 1690 the island was divided into the Castle Meadow of 10 acres to the south-west and the Miller's Piece of 2 acres to the north-east. (fn. 472) A tenant was paid compensation for the latter in 1743 when it was taken into the new Temple Park. (fn. 473) A fishery in the Avon upstream to the Great Bridge and downstream to the western end of the island was also customarily leased with the mill from 1529 (fn. 474) until at least 1630. (fn. 475)

In 1894, after the mill had ceased to grind, an electric generating plant was installed in the millhouse, to supply direct current to the castle, and to charge the batteries of an electric boat on the river and a children's car in the grounds. In about 1910 an electric pump was fitted in the battery-room of the mill, to provide river water for the castle fire hydrants and for the town watercarts. It was still in service in 1965. Mains electricity was introduced in about 1940, but the generating plant could still be operated if required until it was dismantled in 1954. (fn. 476)

THE OFFICERS OF THE CASTLE ESTATE TO 1604

Much of the information about the earl's officers dates from periods when the estate was in the king's hands through minority of an heir or forfeiture. While some of the Crown appointments were to offices created by the earl, others were plainly sinecures, invented to give a salary or pension to a royal servant.

The first and most important office was that of constable of the castle, performed originally, no doubt, by the earl in person, but deputed by John du Plessis to John de Chaundos, referred to as porter and constable in 1256. (fn. 477) Walter Beauchamp, custodian of the castle for the heir his cousin, (fn. 478) and John Pecche, a royal official, (fn. 479) were each termed constable in performing the military duties which fell to them in 1317 and 1321-6 respectively. John Huggeford was concerned with the state of the castle walls during his constableship in 1480, (fn. 480) but after that the office, worth £10 a year, became honorific, and was held in absentia by a series of great persons, among whom were the Marquess of Dorset (fn. 481) and John Dudley himself, before he obtained the earldom. (fn. 482) It was allowed to lapse in 1561 when Ambrose Dudley became earl.

The stewardship of the town or borough of Warwick must originally have been a manorial office and the Steward's Place the meeting place of the manor court. But the purchase made by the steward in 1479 of 2½ yds. of green cloth, the traditional covering of a courthouse table, was for use at the king's house called the Courthall (fn. 483) in anticipation of a visit of the royal justices. The stewardship was by this time joined with the constableship, and, like it, became honorific, so that John Dudley, in petitioning for the castle, could urge that he was already high steward of the town. (fn. 484) The stewardship as a high office was also discontinued by Ambrose Dudley.

The bailiff appears to have been a working official throughout the 15th century, both under the earl and in times of royal administration. He was responsible for the estate rental and tenants in Warwick. (fn. 485) Robert Fitzwaren was of sufficient importance to be sent by the constable to consult with the king and others of his council in London in 1479 about the state of the castle walls. Although the bailiff accounted for the perquisites of the castle and borough courts, the courts themselves were held at this time by another and presumably inferior bailiff, Degory Heynes. (fn. 486) The reversion of the office of bailiff of Warwick, with the Booth Hall, was granted to Thomas Wriothesley for life in 1530. (fn. 487) He performed the duties by deputy, since the bailiff was by then the chief administrative officer of the town. (fn. 488) The reversion of Wriothesley's office was included in John Dudley's patent in 1547. (fn. 489)

The money arising from the Warwick estate in 1420-22, during Richard Beauchamp's tenure, passed through the hands of John Mayell, collector of rents, (fn. 490) of John Brewster, receiver general at Warwick, (fn. 491) and of John Baysham, surveyor and receiver general of all the earl's estates. (fn. 492) The collector of rents accounted for several items, such as the pasture of Wedgnock Park, for which the bailiff was at other times responsible, and it may be that his was the same office under another name.

The office of porter of the castle is one of the most ancient. The porter and constable were the same person in 1256, (fn. 493) and in 1321 the porter or janitor was receiving 1½d. a day. (fn. 494) From 1441 he was also keeper or gardener of the vineyard opposite the castle gate, (fn. 495) and from 1510 the Cross Tavern went with the office. (fn. 496) These two perquisities were resumed by John Dudley, but the office has continued, in a humbler fashion, until the present. A keeper of the meadows made presentments at the castle court of the manor in 1425 of beasts pastured on the wrong ground. (fn. 497) In 1474 he had the title of messor, (fn. 498) and in 1531 Robert Webbe, yeoman of the royal stud at Warwick, was appointed to the same office with the title of mower of the meadows. (fn. 499) A keeper of the armoury of the king in Warwick Castle was a salaried officer in 1479, (fn. 500) entitled keeper of the artillery in 1486, (fn. 501) and again keeper of the armoury in 1489, (fn. 502) but the post was then allowed to lapse. The office of keeping Guy of Warwick's sword was created before 1509, (fn. 503) and although it was doubtless a sinecure for a royal official the salary was continued as a charge on the estate under John Dudley. (fn. 504) Ambrose Dudley himself made an appointment in expectancy to this office and the Treasury paid the arrears due to the son of his nominee as late as 1614 (fn. 505) when all such charges on the estate had ceased.

The keeper of the warren was appointed by the Crown between 1460 (fn. 506) and 1502, (fn. 507) when this office was added to the many held by the constable. A separate keeper of the hares within the warren was appointed once in 1488. (fn. 508) The keeping of the fishery in the Avon belonging to the castle, from Guy's Cliffe to Barford mill, was an adjunct of other offices between 1460 (fn. 509) and 1531, (fn. 510) as was the keeping of the swans, between 1460 (fn. 511) and 1478. (fn. 512) John Huggeford, the constable and steward, was made overseer of the king's stud in the county in 1478, (fn. 513) but from 1480 (fn. 514) to 1544 (fn. 515) the mares and young horses were under the care of a marshal or yeoman of the studs, who was allowed two cartloads of hay from the Warwick meadows and three of wood from Wedgnock Park. Wedgnock Park was administered in 1394 by a parker or keeper, (fn. 516) and was divided into three bailiwicks with under-keepers by 1446. (fn. 517) The keeper of stock in the park, 1417-41, (fn. 518) probably had charge of agistments and of a small demesne by Goodrest, while the keepers were concerned with the deer. The mastership of the game was held by the constable and steward for the time being from 1418, (fn. 519) and seems never to have been more than a title of honour. The custody of Goodrest manorhouse and garden occurs as an office in 1479, (fn. 520) but was also acquired by the constable in 1523. (fn. 521) Sir Fulke Greville in 1597 was appointed ranger of the park, woodward, keeper of Goodrest manor, keeper of Fernhill woods, and master of the game, (fn. 522) but the payments for all these offices were cancelled on the grant of the park to him in 1602. (fn. 523) The title of ranger was revived for the keeper of the park until 1744. (fn. 524)