Chartley Castle lies in ruins to the north of the village ofStowe-by-Chartley inStaffordshire, betweenStafford andUttoxeter (grid referenceSK010285).Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned on the estate in 1585. The remains of the castle and associated earthworks are aScheduled Monument, the site having been protected since 1925.[1] The castle itself is aGrade II* listed building[2]
Themotte and bailey castle was built by one of the earlyEarls of Chester, about 1100, as a safe stop-over for their journeys to places such asTutbury. It was rebuilt in 1220 byRanulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester, who died in 1232. It then passed by marriage toWilliam de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby. It remained in the Ferrers family for more than 200 years, and in 1453, passed toWalter Devereux, through his wife Anne de Ferrers, the Ferrers heiress. Through his wife, Walter also becamejure uxorisBaron Ferrers of Chartley in 1461, and was killed at theBattle of Bosworth in 1485. The castle was then abandoned as a residence, andChartley Manor, a moated and battlemented timber mansion, was built nearby.Mary, Queen of Scots was a prisoner in this manor house. It was destroyed by fire in 1781.[3] What is now known as Chartley Manor was in fact known as "Chartley Manor Farm" until the 1980s.
Substantial remains are still present today, including a rare cylindricalkeep, acurtain wall flanked by two half-round towers, a twin-toweredgatehouse and an angled tower. A survey conducted in the nineteenth century identified five towers ranging from 35 to 41 feet external diameter, and the keep, 50 feet in diameter.[4] One author has noted similarities of the plan to theChâteau de Montlhéry near Paris, which Ranulph de Blondeville may have been familiar with.[5] M.W. Thompson noted numerous architectural similarities between Chartley,Bolingbroke Castle, Lincolnshire and alsoBeeston Castle in Cheshire, all thought to have been built under de Blondeville.[6]
When Chartley Manor belonged toRobert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex it became one of the last places of imprisonment of Mary, Queen of Scots. Her jailorAmias Paulet came fromTutbury Castle to view the manor in September 1585 and saw the house was just big enough to accommodate both his and the queen's households, "somewhat straitly." Chartley manor was preferred over alternatives because the house had a deep moat, though the moat was quite narrow in places. The moat also helped security because the queen's laundry could be washed without her maids leaving the house.[7] Paulet wrote that the way the Manor was "found to stand so low and environed with water" was not likely to please Mary (she being sensitive to damp environments).[8]
Paulet prepared to move the queen the twelve miles from Tutbury before Christmas 1585, and decided to avoid going through the busy market town ofUttoxeter.[9] Mary spent almost a year at Chartley. In August 1586Francis Walsingham made a plan to arrest Mary and move her from Chartley by having Paulet pretend to take her hunting, while the leading members of her household were arrested and her papers seized. Many of servants would be kept at Chartley and she would be taken to another house. Acting on theBabington Plot, Mary was arrested on 11 August 1586 while out riding and hunting with a crossbow, with her secretariesClaude Nau andGilbert Curle,Bastian Pagez, her doctorDominique Bourgoing and others. They were surprised by armed soldiers who took them toTixall.[10]
Walsingham wrote to Paulet fromWindsor Castle on 25 August thatElizabeth ordered that Mary should not leave Tixall. However, on that day, Paulet brought Mary back to Chartley.[11] Claude Nau, Gilbert Curle, and the cipher clerkJérôme Pasquier were arrested and questioned about Mary's involvement in theBabington Plot.[12] On 25 September 1586 Mary was removed to the strong castle ofFotheringay inNorthamptonshire where she was beheaded on 8 February 1587.[13]
52°51′14″N1°59′12″W / 52.85399°N 1.98659°W /52.85399; -1.98659