Beeston
Castle - Tarporley, Cheshire (EH)
The thirteenth century ruin of Beeston Castle is located on a rocky summit 500ft above
the Cheshire plain with views of the Pennines in the east and the Welsh mountains in the
west.
The visible fortifications date from 1225 when a castle was built on Beeston crag by
Ranulf de Blundeville ), the sixth Earl of Chester, based on new castle-building methods he
had gleaned from his travels in the Middle East during the Crusades.
Remains of early settlements dating back to 800BC have been discovered on this site.
With no male heir, Beeston, together with the earldom of Chester passed to the Crown
under King Henry III (1216-72). Henry used the castle as a base to assemble troops and
store supplies for his Welsh campaigns. As Beeston was not required as a residence no
attempt was made to equip it with permanent kitchens, halls or chambers, so it is likely
that timber buildings would have been constructed within the outer bailey to house the
troops and supplies.
In 1254 Beeston passed to Henry's son Edward, the future King Edward I. Following
Edward's coronation in 1272 the conquest of Wales was quickly completed and although the
Cheshire Castles lost some of their importance, Beeston remained in good repair until the
end of the fourteenth century. Thereafter it fell into gradual decline until, during the
sixteenth century, being of no further use to the Crown, it was acquired by a local
landowner, Sir Hugh Beeston of Beeston Hall. Sir Hugh used the castle and its lands for
farming and to house poorer members of his family.
In 1642 with the outbreak of the Civil War military fortifications were once again in
high demand and Beeston Castle was hastily re-commissioned. During the War, Beeston fell
first to the Parliamentarians and then the Royalists and then with the surrender of
Chester in February 1646, orders were given for Beeston's defences to be destroyed.
This 'slighting' of Beeston was all the more thorough by the victorious
Parliamentarians due to their earlier humiliating defeat at the castle, when a
party of only eight Royalists managed to scale the north wall and obtain a
surrender from the Parliamentarians within.
