Castles

A 19th-century painting of Oliver Cromwell and the New Model Army storming Basing House in 1645 (Photo by Artepics/Alamy Stock Photo)

The siege of Basing House: how the Civil War was won. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A statue of Alice Nutter, one of the 1612 Pendle Witches. The statue is in her home village on Blacko Bar Road, Roughlee. (Image by Alamy)

The Pendle witches: what happened in the infamous Lancashire witch trial?

King Arthur and his knights return to Camelot (Photo by: Christophel Fine Art/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Q&AWhere was Camelot?

Bodiam Castle. (Getty Images)

How to build a medieval castle: 9 top tips

Gwrych Castle in Abergele, North Wales

The history of Gwrych Castle, home of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here

A photograph of the Tower of London, from the river

Anne Boleyn, Beefeaters, Guy Fawkes and the princes: a brief history of the Tower of London

An aerial view of Tintagel Castle, Cornwall. (Photo by David Goddard/Getty Images)

ExploreTintagel Castle and the legend of King Arthur. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The 1618 Defenestration of Prague

The 1618 Defenestration of Prague explained

Mary, Queen of Scots and her ladies-in-waiting. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Mary, Queen of Scots: what happened to her ladies-in-waiting?

The ruins of Dunluce Castle, which sit on the coastal cliffs of North Antrim in Northern Ireland. They are thought to have been the inspiration for CS Lewis’s castle Cair Paravel in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ (1950–56). (Photo by Andrea Ricordi/Contributor/Getty Images)

9 of Britain’s best castles. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Marc Morris at BBC History Magazine's 2017 History Weekend (Photo by Steve Sayers)

Secrets of Britain’s castles. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Hever Castle, Anne Boleyn's childhood home in Kent. (Photo by Prisma Bildagentur/UIG via Getty Images)

8 must-visit castles with Tudor connections

The entrance to Bodiam Castle. "If any castle conjures up the ‘romance’ of the mediaeval world, this is it," says Michael Smith. (Photo by Andrew Ray/LOOP IMAGES via Getty Images)

From magnificent ruins to imposing forts: 10 must-visit British castles

General prehistory

12 historical places to visit on the August bank holiday weekend

A view of the Reculver Towers, Reculver, England. (Photo by Loop Images/UIG via Getty Images)

8 of Britain’s most mysterious ruins

Sunset over the causeway to St Michael's Mount, Marazion, Cornwall, England (Getty Images)

9 places associated with the Prayer Book Rebellion. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Henry VIII. Portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1540. The painting has the inscription 'Anno Aetatis suae XLIX' (His year of age, 49)’. Palazzo Barberini, Rome, Italy. (Photo by PHAS/UIG via Getty Images)

Henry VIII: 5 places you (probably) didn’t know shaped his life

The distinctive polygon towers of Caernarfon Castle. (Photo by Gail Johnson/Getty Images)

History explorerThe conquest of Wales. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An aerial image of Maiden Castle, site of Britain's largest hillfort. (Photo by Robert Harding/Getty Images)

What was life like in the Iron Age? Plus 6 places in Britain to explore. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The siege of Orleans

Q&ADid castle defenders really pour boiling oil down on attackers?

Pevensey Castle, England. First fortified by the Romans, William the Conqueror famously landed his army there in 1066 and a Norman castle was developed during the century after the Norman Conquest. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

The LibraryQ&A: How did the Normans learn to build castles?

The secrets of 6 of Britain’s most famous castles – with Dan Jones

View of the Waterloo Gallery at Apsley House, London. (Photo by English Heritage/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

The LibraryHistory explorer: the Napoleonic Wars

Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire. (Photo by Getty Images)

History explorerThe Second Barons’ War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Grand Bridge at Blenheim. (Getty Images)

History explorerBlenheim Palace and Capability Brown. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Tixall Gatehouse, Staffordshire. (Photo by The Landmark Trust)

10 of Britain’s most amazing landmark buildings

Ruthven Barracks

The LibraryHistory Explorer: The Jacobite uprisings. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Norwich castle

History explorer: The Norman conquest. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Looking inside the medieval Holt Castle

Dover Castle, Kent. (Photo by Olaf Protze/LightRocket via Getty Images)

England's 8 most amazing castles