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Legend
tells that the first castle of significance built on this
cliff overlooking a turn in the River Avon was the work
of Ethelfleda, the daughter of Alfred the Great, in 914.
The castle was built as part of the protective network
for the Saxon Kingdom of Wessex. The castle survived 150
years - until the invasion of William the Conqueror. King
William quickly appointed Henry de Newburgh the first
Earl of Warwick, and it was he who built the Norman,
timber motte and bailey castle dating from 1068. A
polygonal stone keep was erected on the motte during the
reign of Henry II (1154-1189). In 1264 the castle was
seized by the army of Simon de Montfort and when the
captured Earl, William Mauduit, died in prison at
Kenilworth, Warwick Castle was given to William de
Beauchamp. Over the next 180 yearsm seven generations of
the Beauchamp family built and rebuilt Warwick into the
magnificent structure that still stands today.
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