Venue Type & Location
Overview
The castle was a large structure with four towers and a keep in the N-W corner. It stood south of the village in the S-E corner of the parish.
Currently, only the moat survives.
Performance History
Residence for patrons: Isabel Le Despencer (1400-39), [her da Elizabeth Beauchamp (1415-48)?] & son Henry de Beauchamp (1424/5-46) & his wife Cecily Neville (1425-50)
Current Status
History of the Venue
late 13th c. The castle was originally a hunting lodge, built by Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester (d 1295).
1314 The castle passes to Eleanor, wife of Hugh Le Despenser, 2nd Baron Le Despenser, upon the death of her brother, the 7th Earl of Gloucester.
1349 Elizabeth, widow of Hugh, 3rd Baron Le Despenser, was assigned Hanley Castle as her dwelling place. Upon her death (1359), it passed to Hugh's nephew Edward, 4th Baron Le Despenser (d 1375).
1414 Isabel inherited Hanley upon the death of her brother Richard Despenser.
1439 Castle passed to Isabel's son (by her second husband) Henry Beauchamp, 14th Earl & 1st Duke of Warwick, who was born and died here.
1487 Hanley surrended to the Crown by Anne, Countess of Warwick.
Henry VIII later granted the castle to Sir William Compton of Compton Verney, Warwickshire, who pulled most of it down and used the materials for other buildings. Leland states that Compton "clean defaced it in his time" (4: 135).
1795 A gateway tower was dismantled and its stones used for the reconstruction of Upton bridge.
Patrons who owned this venue
| Name | Date | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Beauchamp, Henry de | 1425-1446 | Lord Le Despenser |
| Beauchamp, Henry de | 1425-1446 | Earl of Warwick |
| Beauchamp, Henry de | 1425-1446 | Count of Aumale |
| Beauchamp, Henry de | 1425-1446 | Duke of Warwick |
| Beauchamp, Henry de | 1425-1446 | Baron Burghersh |
| Beauchamp, Richard de | 1382-1439 | Earl of Warwick |
| Neville, Cecily | 1425-1450 | Duchess of Warwick |
| Neville, Cecily | 1425-1450 | Countess of Worcester |
| Neville, Cecily | 1425-1450 | Lady Le Despenser |
| Neville, Cecily | 1425-1450 | Countess of Warwick |
Bibliographic Sources
- Emery, Anthony. Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300–1500. 3 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996--2006
- Havins, Peter J. Neville. Portrait of Worcestershire. London: Robert Hale, 1974 139.
- Noakes, J. Noake's Guide to Worcestershire. London: Longman & Co., 1868
- Pevsner, Nikolaus. Worcestershire. Harmondsworth, Midd: Penguin Books, 1968
- Salter, Mike. The Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Malvern, Worc: Folly Publications, 1989