Wardour Castle

Old Wardour Castle is a late 14th-century stone castle ruin in Wiltshire, England, notable for its unusual circular plan and medieval masonry. The site is part of a larger historic estate that includes an adjacent 18th-century house.

The castle was built in the late 14th century and belonged to the Lovell family and later the Arundells; it was besieged and partially slighted during the English Civil War in the 1640s and subsequently fell into ruin. The later 18th-century house was constructed by the estate owners as the principal residence.

The castle and estate lie in south-western England in Wiltshire near the village of Tisbury, set within parkland and agricultural countryside and reachable by local roads from nearby market towns.

• Construction and Civil War damage: Old Wardour Castle dates from around 1392 and was besieged and partly destroyed during the English Civil War in the 1640s; the ruins are now managed for public access, with information panels on site.

What to See #

• Old Wardour Castle: Old Wardour Castle is a circular-plan medieval castle ruin dating from the late 14th century, with surviving curtain walls, towers, and an inner courtyard that illustrate its original fortified layout.
• New Wardour House and estate: New Wardour House is an 18th-century country house built nearby on the Wardour estate; the house and designed landscape lie adjacent to the medieval ruins and together form part of the historic estate.