Bolsover Castle

We needed a trip to South Yorkshire first Saturday in October and an overnight Friday stay (reasons to be explained in a few weeks!) Rather than just head straight home we wanted to make something of the day. Having decided Chatsworth was too scandalously expensive we settled on Bolsover Castle.

Its quite a prominent sight from the M1 and a quick check of the website made it sound an interesting place and well worth a visit.

After a lunch in the cafe we went in for a wander around.

There were showers around but for the first part of our visit we were in clear abundant sunshine.

Its a really well done place with plenty of interest and it has a fascinating little place in history.

Kind of odd to see it in its location amongst the old coal mining remnants.

This is the Terrace Grange part of the original manor house from Norman times. It was besieged a few times and then fell into disrepair for the best part of 300 years.

This is what’s referred to as the “Little Castle” built by the Cavendish family who bought the estate and made it their home.

The inside is really interesting with curious rooms and you are free to explore pretty much every room and little corner.

I particularly liked the ceiling in this room.

The Cavendish family were very well connected and one the key moments in its history is a lavish event, attended by King Charles 1, all his entourage and many of the Derbyshire elite. Quite a coup for a lesser nobleman.

There is a walled garden outside which would be lovely place to relax on a warmer and less rainy day.

It gives a great perspective on the Little Castle.

Even better that you can walk all around the walls.

Not exactly battlements but very nice (until it started to rain anyway!)

During the Civil War, William Cavendish was appointed by the king to be Commander in Chief of the Northern Royalist Counties. Sadly fortunes took a bad turn, after his wife died, he lost the battle of Marston Moor and fled to exile in Paris.

The castle was the ordered by the Parliamentarians to be slighted so the Royalists couldn’t use it as a base.

However, William returned from exile shortly after and granted the estate to his sons who repaired the place. It then passed through various families for a few hundred years and again began to fall into disrepair including pollution damage from nearby factories and coal mines in the early 20th Century.

Eventually it was taken over by the Ministry of Works to effect repairs and has been open to the public since 1945. English Heritage are now custodians and attempting to restore as much as they can to former glory.

A fascinating place and well worth a few hours for a stopover when you’re in the area, especially as its only 10 minutes from the M1.