Beeston Castle, England in 800 year old ruin perched high on hill looking over Cheshire

I was looking back through some older photos from 2021 tonight and found some pics from a trip to Beeston castle, which is in Cheshire in England.

The castle was built right at the top of a small hill, which looks out over a very large and flat part of Cheshire. It was built back around 1220, so is nearly exactly 800 years old. It was quite large, but is now a considerable ruin.

Its actually quite a climb to get up to the castle, a nice climb (I mean walk up a steep hill), but when you get to the top its so worth it for the views alone. As can be seen in the pic above, which looks side-on to the castle gates and the new bridge that has been put in place by English Heritage to allow visitors access.

Up at the top, its only really the walls that are partly left, and remnants of the two gate towers. At some point after it fell into disrepair around the 17th century I think it was largely plundered for its stone. Which was often the case back then. Why pay the expense of new stone for farm buildings and the like when you can just nick the stuff from some other disused place !

The views were completely stunning, and we were shocked at how far you could see. That was obviously part of its strategic location - it allowed such a range of view over quite a vast swathe of land - I dont quite recall seeing another like it from that perspective.

The castle well still survives, which would have been a very essential component considering its location. If there was no access to water, then it would have been useless, especially if it were sieged. Access to water could allow a sieged castle to wait it out for months, as long as it had some food stocks.

Henry the 3rd took over the castle not long after it was built (around 1237), and hence it became a royal castle, and was then maintained for around 300 or so years, in quite good condition. Beyond then its value lessened, and so its decline began.

We were quite lucky and visited it on quite a nice day. On a bad day the castle is quite exposed to the elements, and it must have been pretty horrendous in the depths of winter - but all in the name of defence !

The gates and new bridge look quite cool, and again show how far you can see from the location. The pic above is looking in the other direction from the other views, and you nearly get views like this in a full 360 degree circle from around the castle.

We did enjoy the visit, and its actually quite a large site, as further down the hill there is also a further outer defensive wall, that can be seen in the picture below. There was enough to do there that we spent quite a few hours on site, and it also had a nice cafe down at the car park. I wouldnt hesitate to go again - thats for sure !