More of a wander than a walk, but a lovely place to spend a some time outdoors and explore some fascinating local history.

The History Bit
Old Wardour Castle is a semi ruined 14th century castle. Although it fell into bad shape after being caught up in the English Civil War, it was quite a talking point when it was constructed. Built to impress by John Lovell, a soldier and political man who had married well and needed a home that reflected his growing wealth and status.

Using locally quarried stone to a design that borrowed heavily from French castles of the time, the original Wardour was less castle, more country pile. A place where visitors could be hosted and impressed. Look at the detail in the image above; the herring bone brickwork in the fire place and the carved flowers on the wall above. Beautiful details. Guest lodgings involved luxuries including individual fireplaces and latrines. In room amenities were a whole different game back then.
In the 1500’s the castle came into the hands of the Arundell family. It was modernised under the guiding hand of Matthew Arundell who rejected the trends of the day and kept the backbone of the medieval design. A bold decision, with beautiful Elizabethan homes like Longleat being constructed not so far away.

By the 1600’s, Civil war was dividing the nation and Wardour was caught up in the conflict. The Arundell family sided with the King and the men went off to fight. A local Parliamentary commander advanced upon Wardour with thoughts of occupation. He could think again; he hadn’t reckoned upon Lady Blanche Arundell who, having been left in charge of the castle, had no intentions of just handing it over. She, her daughter-in-law and a small band of servants held out for six days.
Blanche did eventually surrender, but the castle didn’t remain captured for too long. Blanche’s son, the 3rd Lord Arundell, tipped up to take it back. In the process of doing so, he accidently blew half of it up. Badly damaged, but back in the family.

A century later, Wardour was beyond repair. The 8th Lord Arundell moved up the road a built a thoroughly modern, all-bells-and-whistles country home known as New Wardour. The castle remains, now Old Wardour, were incorporated into a fashionable landscape garden complete with the later addition of a banqueting house. And that brings us neatly to the Old Wardour of today…
The Visitor Bit
Care for the ruin has fallen to English Heritage, but ownership of the site and surrounding land remains with the Arundell family. The turbulence of yesterday makes for a beautiful bit of castle and parkland for today. The family added to the site over the generations- a bit of planting here, a stone grotto there. All a bit whimsical, and utterly in keeping with the centrepiece that is the castle itself.
Although lacking the rip roaring history of the ruin, the Gothic style banqueting house is also worth a look. An 18th Century addition, the little house was built as a place for visitors to take refreshments. Featuring stained glass windows, lakeside views and pretty fireplaces, it is very charming.



The castle itself is perfectly imperfect. Ruined enough to have a fairy tale feel, in tact enough to get in and explore. Elaborate windows and door ways frame lovely views across the Wiltshire countryside.
On the exterior, the Arundell coat of arms and a bust of Jesus stand in surprisingly good condition considering the years they’ve been there. It’s easy to imagine what a grand place this once was. If you feel like you recognise aspects of the castle, you might have spotted it on the big screen. Old Wardour was a filming location for the 1991 movie Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves.





The Useful Info Bit
Old Wardour is tucked away in the Wiltshire countryside near Tisbury. The route involves lots of winding country roads, many of which are only wide enough for one car. Getting here is an adventure in itself. Use postcode SP3 6RP . Free parking on site.
The site is now managed by English Heritage. Admission charges apply, free for EH members. Full details here.
Old Wardour is dog friendly, but dogs are requested to be kept on lead.
So very English, and absolutely beautiful 🤗💟 Happy Easter to you and yours, Helen!
Thanks Jo, and to you. Hope you’ve enjoyed a lovely Easter weekend.
Fantastic, Helen. Still enjoying northern Portugal and even the weather is on our side 🤗💟
What a beautiful bit of history and a grand old piece. Thank you so much I am starting a list of these beautiful places you show.
Thank you so much , Jeanine. I do love a place with a good back story and Old Wardour certainly has that!
“Accidentally blew half of it up”! An easy mistake to make, I’m sure we’ve all done it 😀. Interesting place.
Yes… I can only imagine how he relayed news back to the family… ‘Right guys, good news and bad. The good being I’ve retaken our castle…’. All adds to a rich history now!
😀
You’re beginning to sell Wiltshire to me. I barely know it at all.
That does make me smile! I have a renewed love for the place since we’ve been extended here. I think Wiltshire is underrated.
I think it may well be. It never gets a mention.
Oh I loved Wardour Castle when we visited last year, absolutely lovely spot and had it all to ourselves. We did a 10km walk from there over to New Wardour and back in a loop, it was a beautiful way to spend the afternoon 🙂
Oh I’ll have to look up that walk, that’s a perfect distance for The Wolf. I loved Old Wardour too, we ended up there on a whim after stopping off in Tisbury. It’s a lovely part of the world for exploring. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment, always appreciated!
It looks absolutely gorgeous. Certainly one to visit.Thank you big time.
There seems to,be no end of lovely places for a wander in Wiltshire Helen, Tisbury being one of them.
It’s a beautiful county, definitely worth exploring!
I love exploring a ruined castle Helen, especially an English one. Thanks for introducing this one to me, love all the history and the Robin Hood connection. I really like the shot of the window with the stained glass bit on top. Hope to get to Wiltshire one of these years for some extended exploring.
Another interesting place to visit. And it did look slightly familiar as I’ve not that long ago rewatched Robin Hood Prince of Thieves . X
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