Macclesfield Castle

Macclesfield Castle was a fortified manor house in the town of Macclesfield, Cheshire. John de Macclesfield began building it in 1398 from sandstone, giving it a square shape with projecting wings. The castle saw changes in the 15th century and passed through the hands of two earl families. By the late 16th century it stood ruinous, and only the porch survived into the 20th century. In 1932 the porch was dismantled and the site used for cottages and shops. The licence to crenellate granted in 1410 shows how unusual it was for a commoner to fortify a home in a royal borough. Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, later owned the castle, which became known as Buckingham Castle. William Smith described it in 1585 as a huge stone place in decay. Henry VII is thought to have stayed there in 1496 when visiting the Earl of Derby. The historian R.C. Turner links its design to Bodiam and Kenilworth castles. Today the courtyard of Macclesfield Town Hall contains stones from the castle’s porch. Excavations in 1985 uncovered weathered dressed stone from the original building. The porch measured 4.5 metres square and stood 7.31 metres high, with a vaulted interior and a Tudor rose. Parts of the curtain wall also survive, though little else remains of the once grand structure.