Whittington Castle History & Tour / Haunted 12th Century Marcher Castle

Hello and welcome to Castles and Legends. Today we are in North Shropshire in a little village called Whittington at Whittington Castle. This castle dates back all the way to the 12th century and was home to the Fitzwarren family for quite a number of generations. There are also a number of legends associated with Whittington Castle including the Holy Grail. As well as all that, it apparently has quite a number of spooks and ghosts here. It's been featured on the TV show Most Haunted and today there's actually a paranormal investigation going on this evening and I got chatting to the people and they've invited me to stay. But on the good side I also get to see the inside of the castle so we should get some good pictures there. I won't go too much into the ghosts in this episode, maybe in a future one. We're going to focus on the history but for now let's go and have a look around. Today Whittington stands very much on the English side of the Welsh border but in the past that was not the case. It was situated within the Welsh March, a loosely defined area that ran along the border between England and Wales. This area was not controlled by the English kings but instead by marcher lords whose role amongst others were to defend the border against the Welsh raiders. Whittington's location is not what would be considered ideal for the construction of a fortification. It's surrounded by gentle rolling hills but once upon a time there was marshland to the north which acted as a good natural defence and the babbonswood forest to the south. The first formal reference to Whittington castle was not until 1138 which states it was one of the castles William Peverell had fortified for Empress Matilda, claimant to the throne in a war against King Stephen during the civil war known as the anarchy. Whittington's history is very much entwined with the Fitzwarren family. The family origin can be traced back to Warren de Metz who came over to England during the reign of William the Conqueror. He went on to marry Millette, the niece of William Peverell and this is the link that could explain how and why Fulke Fitzwarren had a later claim to the Whittington lordship. Legend has it that Fulke Fitzwarren kept a Marian chalice thought by some to be the holy grail at the private chapel of the White Castle. Whittington castle was built of a light coloured stone and was referred to as the White Castle. Fulke was the grandson of Payne Peverell, a knight in the first crusade and he was one in the line of the guardians of the grail. Fulke died in 1171 and his son Fulke II succeeded him. He married the daughter of a wealthy Anglo-Norman nobleman but he still had trouble laying claim to his father's lands. Fulke III continued the pursuit of the legal claim. Ongoing problems led Fulke to eventually rebel against King John in 1200. Legend has it that this dispute resulted in Fulke being declared an outlaw and was exiled. A lot of Fulke's story comes from a romance entitled Fulke Le Fitzwarren where we start to see certain similarities with the tale of Robin Hood. For example folk tales tell of how Fulke robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. Sound familiar? This leads some people to believe that maybe Robin Hood was a fictional account of Fulke's time as an outlaw. In 1203 the king pardoned Fulke and in 1204 the Whittington estate was finally in the possession of the Fitzwarren family. Now that the castle was finally in the hands of its new owners Whittington entered its most prosperous period with being passed down the male line of the family from father to son all called Fulke all the way to 1420. Whittington castle was captured by Flewellyn the Great in March 2023 but by July it was back in the hands of Fulke III but it was likely damaged during this time. Up to this point the castle was a motte and bailey construction built of only earth and timber. Rebuilding of the castle into stone started in the early 13th century and the reconstruction featured a tower keep standing on the motte of the new inner bailey. The new inner bailey consisted of a walled raised area with circular towers and housing various inner buildings. The original outer gatehouse was also built. Fulke III died in the late 1250s and his son Fulke IV inherited the castle. Fulke IV defended the marshes and his lands which were recognised by King Henry III who he had developed a good and loyal relationship with. In 1264 at the battle of Lewes during the second barons war while fighting on the side of the king Fulke IV drowned in a stream. Fulke V was very young when his father died he eventually went on to marry Margaret the daughter of the Lord of Powys. With tensions still high in the marshes as well as new military focuses starting to develop towards other countries such as Scotland and France Whittington went on to become a key provider of troops. In 1295 during the reign of King Edward I Fulke V was made the first baron Fitzwarren as reward for his services to the king. In the 14th century it is likely Fulke VI and his wife were responsible for the extensive work carried out with the focus on accommodation rather than defence. Gardens were added by modifications made to the layout of the outer bailey of mortar defences. The great hall was rebuilt and living spaces were likely refurbished. In 1330 Fulke VI was accused of rebellion and Whittington castle was seized and given to a Towards the end of 1330 Fulke was cleared of these accusations and soon his lands were back in his possession. The castle continued to pass down the Fitzwarren bloodline but by 1392 the castle had been described as being very ruinous. In 1406 Fulke XI was born he was the last in the line of the Fitzwarren family and he died just aged 14. Fulke's sister Elizabeth was next there she was just 17 and already married to Richard Hogford whose father had been Lord Chief Justice of England. In 1536 the new English Welsh border was formed which saw the end of the March of Lordships and Whittington became part of Shropshire. John Boucher 2nd Earl of Bath inherited Whittington castle and Lordship through marriage but in 1545 he exchanged the castle and Lordship for some estates in Devon with King Henry VII. Through the rest of the 1500s the crown leased the castle to a number of different tenants though eventually William Albany acquired it. It was then passed on to his grandson Francis in the early 1620s. Francis had built up a considerable amount of debt and gave permission for stone to be removed from the castle so it could be used to build houses and ironworks. In 1638 Whittington castle and the Lordship was then acquired by the Lloyd family at the nearby Aston Hall just a couple of miles away and to this date the castle and land are still in ownership of the Lloyd family. In around 1760 the eastern tower of the inner bailey fell into the moat after this much of the remaining inner bailey was dismantled and used for repairs to roads or the construction of new ones. The early part of the 1800s saw a restoration project undertaken by William Lloyd the result of which is the restoration of the gatehouse as it stands today. Today the castle is looked after and managed by the Whittington Castle Preservation Trust that was set up in 1998. Entry to the castle is free and there is an on-site car park which does require a fee. Whittington castle has quite often been associated with ghost stories and hauntings. In 2016 it featured on the tv show Most Haunted Castles of Britain and in 2017 it featured on a show called Ghost Dimension Flying Solo. It is reported that some visitors have seen two children with pale faces gazing out of the windows of the gatehouse. They were believed to have been two children who disappeared one day never to be seen again. Some years later a chest was opened in a room that was very rarely used. Inside the skeletons of two young boys were found. It is thought that the boys had become trapped playing hide and seek and suffocated. Visitors have also reported hearing their cries for help. Other mysterious figures have also been spotted at Whittington castle. One was seen wearing a black coat and hood who was guarding the castle gates. Another was a blacksmith who was seen wearing a leather apron. Thanks for joining me today. I hope you've enjoyed having a look at Whittington castle with me. If you have please give the video a like, subscribe if you've not already and I hope to see you again very very soon on another castle adventure. Bye for now.