Donnington Castle

Address: Donnington

Opening hours: You can visit the castle’s remains and site at any reasonable time from today to March 28, 2013. After this given period, you might have to check the English Heritage website to confirm if there are changes to the schedule. Note though that you will only be allowed to view the exterior of the castle, possibly due to an attempt to further preserve the remains. Daylight hours are also preferable when visiting Donnington Castle. You will best be able to appreciate the beauty and authority it presents.

There is something romantic and nostalgic about a castle that has been abandoned to meet its ruin. The Castle of Donnington is one such castle. You can find it in Donnington, a small village north of Newbury town in Berkshire. The Elder Sir Richard Abberbury, who was the original owner, founded the castle in 1386. Richard II provided the licence for its establishment.

The castle was then bought by Thomas Chaucer before the royals took over it during the time of the Tudors. The name Chaucer may sound familiar because Geoffrey Chaucer, the poet, was his father. The Tudor take-over was prompted by the fact that the family living in the castle had fallen out of favour from the monarchy. The monarchy handed the castle to the Suffolk Duke, Charles Brandon. By 1535, it was already falling apart. Elizabeth I gifted the castle and the manor surrounding it to Nottingham's First Earl, Charles Howard, in 1600.

Donnington Castle also witnessed a war first hand, having been held captive during the First Civil War in England by the royalist Sir John Boys. It held on during a siege that lasted for eighteen months. The garrison later surrendered. After this surrender, the Parliament voted for the castle’s demolition in 1646. Somehow, the gatehouse remained standing. It was the only part of the castle that survived.

Today, the site is owned by English Heritage. It had been scheduled as an ancient monument. This means that unauthorised changes are prohibited and site protection is a must.

As its long history narrates, the castle had changed hands several times, sometimes due to the whims of royals. It has weathered war and had even suffered a siege and a demolition. Despite it all, the castle still manages to survive and present an impressive though incomplete silhouette against a fresh green landscape. It is good that English Heritage had taken over the reins of maintaining the site and the remains of the castle.

You can visit the castle’s remains and site at any reasonable time from today to March 28, 2013. After this given period, you might have to check the English Heritage website to confirm if there are changes to the schedule. Note though that you will only be allowed to view the exterior of the castle, possibly due to an attempt to further preserve the remains. Daylight hours are also preferable when visiting Donnington Castle. You will best be able to appreciate the beauty and authority it presents.