Old Wardour Castle was built under licence granted in 1393 for the fifth Lord Lovel and is argued by some to have been designed by William Wynford, one of England's finest architects. It was clearly influenced by French designs and was built more with luxury and display in mind than defence. It was remodelled between 1570 and 1678 by Robert Smythson for Sir Matthew Arundell, including renovations to many of the private rooms. The castle consists of a two-floored hexagonal keep, open in the centre, with projecting gatehouse flanked by two towers, which contained the great hall on the first floor. This was set within a curtain wall which enclosed a spacious bailey. The approach to the main keep entrance was guarded by a ditch crossed by a drawbridge, although no remains survive due to 18th century landscaping. The keep contained all of the associated function rooms of the Lord's retinue, and included a private chapel. Following two sieges in the Civil War, during the second of which in March 1644 the south-west side of the keep was largely destroyed, the castle was abandoned. A new house was built immediately to the south of the castle in 1686, which was surrounded by formal gardens using the ruin of Old Wardour as a picturesque centrepiece. In 1754, the Baron Arundel (1717-56) consulted Lancelot Brown (1716-83), who produced a plan for alterations to the estate. Richard Woods (1716-93) was later employed to improve the gardens and park which included plans for a new mansion. This became known as (New) Wardour Castle and was built between 1770 and 1776 to the north-west of Old Wardour Castle. The curtain wall of the outer bailey survives at Old Wardour together with the remains of 17th century stables, an elaborate grotto, a miniature stone circle and a summerhouse (see associated records). In 1934, the sixteenth Baron Arundell started a new planting scheme and repairs to the Castle. In 1936, Old Wardour Castle was placed in the guardianship of the Ministry of Works. (PastScape)

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Name	Old Wardour Castle
Alternative Names	Werdour
Historic County	Wiltshire
Civil Parish	Tisbury
Type	Masonry Castle Tower House
Confidence	Certain
Remains	Major
Listed	Grade 1
Scheduled Ancient Monument	Yes
Ordnance Survey Reference	ST938263
Eastings	393860
Northing	126320
Images of England Reference	320803
PastScape Reference	210460
Historic Environment Record	ST92NW454

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Books

• Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p658-65
• Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern) p101-3
• Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p277-8 [plan]
• Furtado, Peter et al (eds), 1988, Ordnance Survey guide to castles in Britain (London) p86
• King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p501
• Girouard, M., 1983, Robert Smythson and the Elizabethan Country House
• Morley, B.M., 1981, ‘Aspects of fourteenth-century castle design' in A Detsicas (ed) Collectanea Historica: Essays in Memory of Stuart Rigold (Kent Archaeological Society) p104-13
• Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p272
• Pevsner, N. (Revised by Cherry, Bridget), 1975, The Buildings of England: Wiltshire (London, Penguin) p548-51
• Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
• Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p235-8
• Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p3-4
• Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p331-2, 420
• Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol2 p317

Antiquarian

• William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/wilshireeng.html#wilts10]

Journals

• Goodall, J., 2005 April, Country Life
• Girouard, M., 1991 Feb, Country Life
• 1991, Medieval Archaeology Vol35 p196 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
• Saunders, A., 1983, ‘Old Wardour Castle’ Archaeological Journal Vol140 p70–1
• Smith, G., 1983, 'Excavation at Old Wardour Castle, 1983' Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol80 p223–4
• Keen and Hurst, 1967, 'Excavations at Old Wardour Castle, Wiltshire' Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol62 p67-78
• Chettle, G.H., 1947, 'Wardour Castle; the Old Castle' Archaeological Journal Vol104 p167
• Chettle, H.F., 1944, Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol50 p452-8
• Hussey, 1930, Country Life Vol68 p442-8
• Perkins, T., 1894, 'Sketch of the History of Old Wardour Castle' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Vol15 p26-35
• W.D., 1873, The Antiquary Vol4 p259-62 [history]

Guidebooks

• Davison, Brian K., 1999, Old Waldour Castle Wilts (London: English Heritage)
• Pugh, R.B. and Saunders, A.D., 1968, Old Wardour Castle, Wiltshire (HMSO)

Primary Sources

• Calendar of Patent Rolls (1392-96) p261
• Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p471