In medieval documents the castle is described as Castellum de Rupe, the Castle on the Rock. The siting of the castle's outer bailey walls was chosen to take advantage of the fortifications remaining from the earlier Iron Age rampart. History Construction īeeston was built for Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, in the early 13th century. It may have been a specialist metalworking site. The rampart associated with the Bronze Age activity on the crag has been dated to around 1270–830 BC seven circular buildings were identified as being either late Bronze Age or early Iron Age in origin. Archaeologists have discovered Neolithic flint arrow heads on the crag, as well as the remains of a Bronze Age community, and of an Iron Age hill fort. Pits dating from the 4th millennium BC indicate that the site of Beeston Castle was inhabited or used as a communal gathering place during the Neolithic period. Prehistory Ī model showing Beeston's Iron Age settlement A low ridge of glacial moraine extending east from the castle lodge is interpreted as marking an ice front during the retreat (or stagnation in situ) of the Irish Sea ice sheet which had invaded Cheshire from the northwest during the last ice age. Both types of sandstones were once quarried at multiple sites within the castle grounds.Īlong the eastern margin of the hill is the Peckforton Fault, a major north–south-aligned geological fault which downthrows the strata to the east. The hillock is capped by a small outcrop of sandstones assigned to the Tarporley Siltstone Formation (and formerly known as the Keuper Waterstones). The lower slopes are formed from Wilmslow Sandstone Formation while the upper strata are part of the Helsby Sandstone Formation, which is around 245 million years old. It was formed from easterly dipping layers of Triassic sandstone. The crag, just like the neighbouring Peckforton Hills, is part of a thicker sequence known as the New Red Sandstone. It was formed by a meltwater channel at the end of the Ice age. The low-lying area between the southerly and the northern ranges of the ridge is known as the Beeston Gap. The castle is built on Beeston Crag, which is in the southerly part of the Mid Cheshire Ridge, a chain of low sandstone hills that stretches from the River Mersey down to the central region of the Cheshire Plain. A legend states that the royal treasure of Richard II was buried in the castle grounds but many searches have failed to discover the hoard. The walls of the outer bailey and the gatehouse and curtain walls of the inner bailey are recorded separately in the National Heritage List for England as designated Grade I listed buildings. The castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument owned and managed by English Heritage. During the 18th century, parts of the site were used as a quarry. The castle was slighted (partly demolished) in 1646, in accordance with Cromwell's destruction order, to prevent its further use as a bastion. In 1237, Henry III took over the ownership of Beeston, and it was kept in good repair until the 16th century, when it was considered to be of no further military use, although it was pressed into service again in 1643, during the English Civil War. It was built in the 1220s by Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester (1170–1232), on his return from the Crusades.
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