Walls, Towers And Gatehouse Of The Inner Bailey At Beeston Castle

The walls, towers, and gatehouse of the inner bailey at Beeston Castle date back to around 1220 and were altered in the late 13th century and early 14th century. The castle was built by Ranulf de Blundeville, the 7th Earl of Chester. The structure is made of crudely coursed red sandstone and forms a roughly rectangular enclosure, of which approximately half has been demolished.

The entrance front features a central gateway flanked by D-shaped towers, each equipped with lateral arrow slits. The central pointed gate-arch has a rebate. The left-hand turret includes the voussoirs of a blocked pointed arch on the lower wall. To the left, there is curtain walling with the lower courses of another D-shaped tower. On the right, a similar stretch of walling has been roughly repaired with rubble at its center, alongside a D-shaped tower slightly left of the right-hand corner. The eastern wall also features a D-shaped tower at its center.

After the death of Ranulf de Blundeville's nephew, the castle came under Crown ownership. In the late 13th and early 14th centuries, Edward I made modernizing alterations, which included raising the height of the inner bailey walls and adding crenellations. By the late 16th century, the castle was described by Leland as "shattered and ruinous." In 1643, it was partially repaired and occupied by parliamentary troops, but was taken by Royalist forces the same year. It was partially demolished in 1646 to prevent its use as a stronghold. Archaeological evidence of Bronze and Iron Age settlements has been discovered on the site.