Kirtling Tower

Kirtling Tower stands in the gentle hills of Cambridgeshire, east of England. The gatehouse is all that remains of a once grand medieval castle and later Tudor country house. The site sits on a ridge called Cyrtla’s ridge, giving it a high vantage point over the countryside. The name Kirtling itself comes from this ridge, once known as Carthlage or Catlidge. Nearby Upend was once called Upheme, meaning ‘the up-dwellers’ in Old English. The gatehouse now overlooks fields and distant villages, a quiet reminder of past grandeur. The gatehouse is worth the journey for its historical links to Shakespeare and Tudor England. Queen Elizabeth I stayed here for three days in 1578 as the guest of Roger North, the 2nd Baron North. The house inspired characters in literature, including Rosalind from Shakespeare’s *As You Like It*. A manuscript written here, *A Brief Discourse of Rebellion and Rebels*, is now seen as a possible source for Shakespeare’s plays. The gatehouse itself was designed by Francis Adams for Edward North in the 1550s. Its brickwork and Italianate oriel window show the craftsmanship of the Tudor era. Visitors find a three-storey brick gatehouse with octagonal turrets and a striking oriel window. The building is a scheduled monument and Grade I listed, protected for its historical importance. Inside, the rooms are arranged over three floors, with small chambers and staircases leading to narrow windows. The gatehouse sits within a private estate, surrounded by farmland and mature trees. From its elevated position, the view stretches across two counties on clear days. The quiet surroundings contrast with the busy history once lived here.