Maxstoke Castle

Maxstoke Castle

A castle built in 1345 by Sir William de Clinton, Earl of Huntingdon, standing on a moated site with a square plan. The castle was altered in the mid-15th century by the Duke of Buckingham, and underwent further alterations to its courtyard buildings in the late 16th century following its acquisition by Sir Thomas Dilke in 1589.

The castle is constructed of squared and coursed red sandstone on a plinth with a splayed upper edge. The square plan features a gatehouse in the centre of the east wall and an octagonal corner tower projecting prominently from each corner of the curtain wall. The curtain wall is embattled with embrasures fitted for shutters. Below the embattlement runs a moulded cornice of mid-15th-century date, decorated with beast gargoyles. Single and two-light openings dating to the 15th century are fitted with trefoil heads in ogee arches. The north wall contains late 16th-century four-light windows, some with transoms, set within square heads.

The entrance is approached by a bridge leading to the gatehouse in the middle of the east wall, which is flanked by semi-octagonal turrets. One turret carries a leaded bell-shaped roof of 18th or 19th-century date. The gatehouse contains a 15th-century window of two cinquefoil lights in ogee arches at first and second floor level. Loop openings provide access to the corner turrets. The outer gateway arch is two-centred with two chamfered orders, featuring a rebate for a drawbridge and sites for at least two other doors and a portcullis. The outer gates date to the 18th century and are constructed of wrought iron with main gates and side standards enriched with scroll and leaf ornament. The inner arch is also two-centred with two chamfered orders, and the doors date to the 15th century. The gateway passage is covered by two bays of tierceron vault with carved bosses at the intersection of the ribs.

The west wall contains a chapel window of five cinquefoil lights with reticulated tracery set within a two-centred arch. Two further windows of two lights with Y-tracery are set in two-centred arches, whilst at the north end late 16th-century windows with mullions and transoms are set within square heads.

A wall-walk runs around the interior, approached by stairways in each corner tower with doorways in two-centred chamfered arches. Courtyard buildings originally extended along the south, west and north walls, and corbels to carry ceiling beams remain visible in the south and part of the north walls. The range of buildings along the west wall is buttressed towards the courtyard, indicating the presence of the great hall at first floor level. This range is constructed of coursed and squared sandstone with a slate roof. First-floor windows date to the 16th century but are now blocked. At ground floor level, a doorway at the south end features a two-centred wave-moulded arch with label and stops, whilst another doorway further north has an ogee head. The south end of this range was the kitchen end, and the two-centred doorway may have led to the former cross-passage. At the north end of the west range is a block projecting from circa 1820, constructed of red brick with a hipped slate roof. This block is two storeys high with two hung sashes with pointed top panes in square heads and raised stone surrounds at first floor level. Similar windows and a doorway with a panelled door in a square head are found at ground floor level.

The north-west range dates to the late 16th century and is timber-framed with rendered infill on a sandstone plinth and a slate roof. It spans four bays and three storeys, with five-light casements featuring ovolo mouldings, some with transoms. One bay contains a late 16th-century projecting octagonal three-storey porch with a partly open-sided ground stage supported on wooden Doric columns.

The west range contains part of the original first-floor Great Hall, which spans three bays. The roof is concealed by plaster coving and the walls are lined with 17th-century panelling. North of this was the chapel, of which the six-light window in the curtain wall remains. In the late 15th century, another first-floor hall was inserted to the north of the chapel. Its roof features arch-braced and cambered tie beams with octagonal king-posts and four-way struts.

The north range contains principal rooms at first-floor level. A richly carved oak lobby occupies a corner of the drawing room, which has two doorways each with a doorcase of late 16th-century date. The doorcases feature shafts with pedestals and entablatures enriched with carving and retain original doors. The room is lined with 17th-century panelling and the fireplace in the north wall has an overmantel in two bays with panels enclosing the arms of Sir Thomas Dilke and his wife Anne Fisher. The flat ceiling is divided into panels by moulded ribs with foliate bosses.