Chesterton Castle

Chesterton Castle was built probably atop the mound of a former Anglo-Saxon burh and it is known that Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester owned the timber castle in 1180.^[1] Additions were made to the castle shortly before King John visited in 1206,^[5] and it was later usurped by Newcastle-under-Lyme Castle when the town of the same name grew up around the castle during the early 12th century.^[4]

King Henry III took the castle from the Earl of Leicester and gave it along with the Earldom to his son Edmund Crouchback in 1267.^[1][6] It was later rebuilt in stone.^[2]

Sampson Erdeswicke visited Chesterton Castle in 1597 and mentioned that 'a little lower stands Chesterton, where are to be seen the ruins of a very ancient town or castle, there yet remaining some rubbish of lime and stone'.^[2] The ruins were demolished during the 16th century and the site is today unknown.^[4]

Chesterton Castle was built initially using timber but was later constructed using limestone (lime and stone).^[2]