Tattershall Castle

Name: Tattershall Castle
Address: Tattershall, Tattershall, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom

Tattershall Castle is a stunning example of a medieval brick castle rising dramatically above the Lincolnshire countryside.

Built in the early 13^th Century as a stone house with fortifications, it was given to Lord Cromwell in the 15^th Century and he continued to build it into a reminder of his wealth and power.

There are six floors to the main residence and a 5 story rectangular tower with octagonal turrets at each corner that housed Cromwell’s personal suite.

At first glance, the 80ft (24.2m) high Great Tower of Tattershall Castle looks formidable and quite impossible to penetrate should it come under attack. Despite the thickness of the walls, a closer look at the building reveals that many of the ‘defensive’ features were, in fact, incorporated only to embellish the façade. Large arched windows with beautiful tracery run round all sides of the tower, from top to bottom, allowing plenty of light into the lofty rooms but providing little in the way of protection. Inside the rooms are laid out in a uniform fashion on each floor, one large central area or hall with smaller rooms located in three of the corner turrets, and a spiral staircase in the other turret. Each main area had a great fireplace, and all four of these have now been restored and returned to Tattershall Castle through Lord Curzon’s efforts in the early 20th century.

Looking at the wonderfully preserved state of the Great Tower today, it is difficult to imagine the sight that beheld Lord Curzon when he decided to purchase Tattershall Castle in 1911. After Cromwell’s death, Tattershall Castle had been stripped of valuables and it is doubtful whether it was lived in again until it fell into Crown possession. From the last quarter of the 16th century until the end of the 17th century, Tattershall Castle was owned by the Earls of Lincoln. For the next 200 years it was left abandoned, and at the mercy of the elements. With most of Tattershall Castle having been demolished already, there was a real danger that the tower’s days were also numbered. Thankfully, Lord Curzon recognised its historical worth, and visitors today are still able to enjoy some of the former splendour of Cromwell’s great Lincolnshire masterpiece.

Climb the 150 steps from the basement to the battlements and enjoy the magnificent views of the Lincolnshire countryside, then explore the grounds, moats, bridges and neighbouring church, also built by Ralph Cromwell.