Bolsover Castle

The first castle here was built by the Peverel family in the 12th century, becoming Crown property in 1155 on the death of William Peverel the Younger. When the barons led by Henry II's sons revolted, the King spent £116 on works at Bolsover and nearby Peveril, and the garrison was strengthened to a force led by twenty knights, shared between Bolsover, Peveril and Nottingham. The Ferrers family, Earls of Derby, pressed their own claim to the Peverel lands throughout. In June 1216 King John ordered Brian de Lisle to hold the castle against the rebels, or to destroy it if it could not be held; John then granted Bolsover to Ferrers to secure his support, de Lisle refused to hand it over, and the castle fell to Ferrers' forces after a siege in 1217. Returned to Crown control in 1223, £33 was spent repairing the damage, and a further £181 over the next twenty years on four new towers, the keep, the curtain wall, a kitchen and a barn. From 1290 the castle and manor passed to a succession of local farmers, under whom it slid into disrepair.

In 1553 Edward VI granted Bolsover to Francis Talbot, 5th Earl of Shrewsbury. His son George was keeper of Mary, Queen of Scots at Chatsworth, and in 1574 two Scottish servants in the stable at Bolsover, Alexander Hamilton and John Stewart, were suspected of carrying letters secretly to Mary. Stewart's account preserves a glimpse of the household: Henry Smith the bailiff, Jane Mason the housekeeper, and the maids Jane Jackson and Elizabeth Wise.

After the 6th Earl's death in 1590 his son Gilbert sold the ruins to his step-brother and brother-in-law Sir Charles Cavendish, who worked with the celebrated builder and designer Robert Smythson on an entirely new castle, begun in 1612. Both men died with the work unfinished — Smythson in 1614, Cavendish in 1617 — and the surviving building accounts for the Little Castle are unusual in recording female labour by name. Cavendish's sons William and Charles carried on, completing the Little Castle around 1621; Ben Jonson's masque Love's Welcome at Bolsover was performed here during a royal visit on 30 July 1634. William, created Marquess of Newcastle in 1643 and Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1665, restored the castle to good order after the Civil Wars, adding a new hall and staterooms to the Terrace Range before his death in 1676. The estate passed through Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland, into the Bentinck family; the castle stood uninhabited after 1883 and was given to the nation in 1945 by the 7th Duke of Portland. It is now a Grade I listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument in the care of English Heritage.

Bolsover Castle sits in the town of Bolsover (grid reference SK471707), in the north-east of Derbyshire. It is run by English Heritage as a visitor attraction, with the Little Castle, the Terrace Range and the surrounding ruins open to explore; check current opening times and admission before you travel, as these vary by season. Give yourself longer than you think — this is a castle that has hosted everything from Ben Jonson's masque in 1634 to Antiques Roadshow in July 2015.

If the castle's after-dark reputation is what draws you, organised public ghost hunts are held at the venue by event companies. Book in advance, wrap up warmly — much of the site is ruined and open to the weather — and wear boots with grip for uneven historic floors and stairs.