DATE                              EVENT

 

914

• The town of Warwick was founded on the banks of the River Avon in 914 AD by Ethelfleda, sister of Edward the Elder

948

• Earthen Rampart Constructed . Danish invaders threatening, Ethelfleda, daughter of Alfred the Great, orders the building of a 'burh' or an earthen rampart to protect the small hilltop settlement of Warwick.

1067

• Under orders from William the Conqueror, Thorkell of Arden constructs a ditch, with a guarded entrance gate, around the town of Warwick

1068

• Warwick castle is first built as a wooden motte-and-bailey castle by William the Conqueror . One of the oldest parts of the castle was built around this time The Mound

1086

• The Doomsday Book is completed in England

1088

• Henry de Beaumont is appointed 1st Earl of Warwick by William II of England, the son of William the Conqueror.

1110

• Henry de Beaumont was the first Earl of Warwick. founded the Church of All Saints within the castle walls. However in 1127–28. Bishop of Worcester, believing that a castle was an inappropriate location for a church, removed it

1153

• Gundred de Warenne the wife of Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick, was tricked into believing that her husband was dead, and surrendered control of the castle to the invading army of Henry of Anjou, later King Henry II of England

1154-89

• The motte-and-bailey Warwick Castle was replaced with a stone castle.

1173

• Warwick Castle was used to hold provisions during the barons’ rebellion the Earl of Warwick remained loyal to King Henry II of England.

1242

• Thomas, de Beaumont Earl of Warwick, dies without an heir and the castle and estates passes to his sister Margaret, and her husband John Du Plessis.

1260

• Stone replaces wood in the Castle Construction.

1263

• The castle passes to William Mauduit due to the fact that Margaret's marriage to John du Plessis do not had an heir. William and Margaret are cousins.

1264

• The castle was taken in a surprise attack by the forces of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester a leader of the Rebellious barons, from Kenilworth Castle .

1267

• The Beauchamp family now are the Owner and the earldom of Warwick castle. William de Beauchamp is a nephew of William Maudui

1312

• JUNE Piers Gaveston was captured and then imprisoned in Warwick castle,and given a mock trial , by Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick and other nobles. After which he was executed.

1313

• 14TH FEBRUARY Thomas de Beauchamp the 11th Earl of Warwick was born at Warwick castle,

1317

• Walter Beauchamp was instructed to put thirty fencible men in Warwick Castle at the king's wages.

1321

• The castle was occupied for a short time by Roger Mortimer's supporters whom the sheriff, with John Pecche and other local men, was sent to eject and imprison.

1330-50

• The Caesar's Tower and Dungeon constructed during first half of 14th Century under Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl Warwick the son of Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick and Alice de Toeni.

1356

• During the Hundred Years of War, prisoners were brought and kept in the Castle.

1395

• Guy's Tower is completed, reaching a height of 39m.

• The roof of the castle chapel was repaired in preparation for a visit of King Richard II of England,

1397

• Thomas de Beauchamp 12th Earl of Warwick confessed to treachery and is exiled to the Isle of Man by King Richard II of England. Only when Richard is usurped by Henry IV in 1399 does Thomas reclaim his inheritance.

1421

• Richard Beauchamp added to the castle a countermure or outer wall enclosing the castle ditch and built a new bridge before the gates

1431

• Richard de Beauchamp the 13th Earl of Warwick supervises Joan of Arc's trial for supposed heresy, and her subsequent execution the

1445

• 14TH APRIL Henry de Beauchamp becomes the firs Duke of Warwick. However he was last Earl Warwick with the Duke title.

1450

• 2ND MARCH The line of the Male Beauchamp Earls ended and Anne Beauchamp and her husband Richard Neville Earl of Warwick inherited the Earldom and the castle

• The Gatehouse and barbican are completed

1451

• 5TH SEPTEMBER Lady Isabel Neville is born in Warwick Castle the daughter of Richard Neville , 16th Earl of Warwick and Lady Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick

1456

• 11TH JUNE Anne Neville is born (Future Queen consort of Richard III of England) Anne was the daughter of Richard Neville,16th Earl of Warwick and Lady Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick

1469

• Richard Neville the 16th Earl Warwick rebelled against King Edward IV of England and imprisoned him in Warwick Castle. Neville attempted to rule in the King's name; however, due to constant protests by the King's supporters forced the Earl to release King Edward

1471

• Richard Neville was killed at the Battle of Barnet. His widow petitioned for her lands and dower, but by an Act of Parliament of 1474 her estates were divided, since there was no male heir, between her sons-in-law, the Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester. Warwick Castle then passed from Richard Neville to his son-in-law, George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence afte

1475

• 25TH FEBRUARY Edward Plantagenet is born, the 17th Earl of Warwick at Warwick Castle, the son of George Plantagenet and Isabel Neville

1477

• 1ST JANUARY Richard of York died at Warwick castle the son of George Plantagenet and Isabel Neville

1478

• FEBRUARY After George Plantagenet is executed after being suspected of intriguing against his brother Edward IV . Rumoured to have been drowned in a butt of wine.

• Work on what would be known as the Clarence Tower began. It is also known as the Royal Keep. The Clarence Tower is name after King Richard III elder brother, the George Plantagenet Duke of Clarence.

1480

• In the early 1480s, King Richard III of England (the other son-in-law of Richard Neville. 16th Earl of Warwick) instigated the construction of two gun towers, Bear Towers

1485

• Edward Plantagenet 17th Earl of Warwick is prisoner of King Henry VII of England in the Tower of London. Edward was only ten years old and and the last of the male line of direct Plantagenet blood, he never left the Tower.

1499

• NOVEMBER Edward Plantagenet 17th Earl Warwick is executed for allegedly conspiring with the second of the two pretenders to the throne, Perkin Warbeck.

1507

• Repairs to the The windows of the castle were done by a glazier named Whityng.

1511

• 5TH-10TH SEPTEMBER After his progress through the Midlands, Henry VIII stayed at Warwick Castle. Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon lodged at Warwick Castle during their stay in Warwick, hosted by the constables of Warwick Castle Edward Belknap,

1536

• The castle was used to incarcerate a special prisoner, John Watwode, a clerk of St. Mary's, who was arrested for ringing on St. Lawrence's day, declared not to be a public holy day.

1538

• When the house of the Black Friars was being dismantled. A tiled roof 60 ft. long was reserved for use on a kitchen which the King Henry VIII of England was building in the castle.

1540

• The castle sees more improvements include a new roof for the kitchens, reinforcement of the south front, the building of Spy Tower and an extension to the State Rooms for a royal visit

1541

• Henry VIII returned to Warwick Castle for a second visit thirty years later

1547

• The young King Edward VI of England restored the title and John Dudley, his chief minister, was created the 1st Earl of Warwick. On Dudley's death the dukedom was forfeit for his treason, but the earldom passed to his son John, and then his other son Ambrose

1553

• AUGUST John Dudley Duke of Northumberland and Eal of Warwick was executed at Tower Hill under Queen Mary Tudor for his leader-ship role in placing the Lady Jane Grey Nine day Queen on the English throne

1566

• Queen Elizabeth I visited the castle during a tour of the country

1557

• The Castle had minor repairs were carried out on the stable roof and on the leads and gutters over 'the chambers in the castle called the king and Queen's chambers'

1572

• Queen Elizabeth I visited the castle, for four nights. A timber building was erected in the castle for her to stay in, and Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, left the castle to the Queen during her visits . On the Sunday she watched the country people dance in the courtyard from her chamber window and later saw a firework display and a mock battle in the Temple fields below the castle. On the Sunday of the Queen's stay she watched the country people dance in the courtyard from her chamber window and later saw a firework display and a mock battle in the Temple fields below the castle.

1590

• Ambrose Dudley dies and the earldom of Warwick became extinct until 1618

1604

• Fulk Greville was granted Warwick Castle by King James I of England.

1605

• NOVEMBER When the Gun Powder plot was discovered and the plot had failed some of the conspirators involved stole cavalry horses from the stables at Warwick Castle to help in their escape

1618

• The Earldom of Warwick was created for a third time for Robert Rich by King James of Scotland. However, unlike previous holders of the title, the Rich family did not control Warwick Castle

1628

• 30TH SEPTEMBER Fulk Greville,1st Earl Warwick, is murdered by a discontented manservant

1640

• The castle's defences were enhanced in the 1640s to prepare the castle for action in the English Civil War. Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke, was a Parliamentarian, and Royalist forces laid siege to the castle

1642

• 7TH-23RD AUGUST Sir Edward Peyto of Chesterton with a parliamentary garrison was besieged in the castle, in the absence of Lord Brooke, by a force commanded by the Earl of Northampton, the royalist Lord Lieutenant of the county

• During The English Civil War Royalist soldiers, are taken and were imprisoned in the Dungeon, A Edward Disney and “MasTER john SMYTH were among some of those prisoners locked up in Warwick Castle dungeon during the Battle of Edgehill

1643

• 2ND MARCH Sir Robert Greville, a general in the parliamentary army was killed at the attack on Lichfield

• Major John Bridges was appointed governor of the castle

1646-51

• Prisoners from the Second English Civil War and the battle of Worcester were brought to the castle and confined there.

1667

• The stables and coach house were built in the outer courtyard

1669

• The Armoury and Private apartments were built and added to the castle

1670

• The Cedar Drawing rooms were completed by by two local craftsmen, William and Roger Hurlbult

1695

• King William III visits Warwick Castle.

1747

• Francis Greville commissioned Italian painter Antonio Canaletto to paint Warwick Castle

1749

• Lancelot Brown was commissioned by Francis Greville to re-landscape the castle grounds the work was completed by 1757

1750

• Capability Brown starts his work landscaping the garden Warwick Castle. Capability’ Brown’s nickname was coined from his catchphrase “I see great capabilities here”. It is believed that Warwick Castle was Brown’s first independent castle commission and his achievements here won him praise and national recognition

1759

• The Francis Greville 8th Baron Brooke was also bestowed with the title Earl of Warwick in , the fourth creation of the title When the last of the Rich family (Family who held the titles Earl, of Warwick) died without heir

1763

• The castles State dining room completed commissioned by Francis Greville Future monarchs George IV, Edward VII, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert all dined here

1768-88

• William Eboral, the local builder was commissioned to build the new greenhouse conservator

1786

• William Eborall. Built the Conservatory. It was originally conceived to house the Warwick Vase, a magnificent piece of ancient Roman pottery excavated near Tivoli in 1771, which are now on display at the Burrell Collection in Glasgow.

1858

• 3RD JULY Queen Victoria dines at the Castle.

1868

• Robert Marnock worked on the formal gardens in the castle's grounds

1871

• Fire damages the Castle. A Fire sweeps through the Private Apartments, damaging the Great Hall

1890

• Countess of Warwick keeps Menagerie

1893

• 2ND DECEMBER George Guy Greville, 4th Earl of Warwick died at Warwick castle

1894

• The castle's mill started generating its own electricity

1906

• JULY The Warwick Pageant

1938

• The 7th Earl Charles Guy Grenville goes to Hollywood using the stage name of Michael Brooke, Guy gets a supporting role in Dawn Patrol (1938) starring Errol Flynn and David Niven.

1840

• Warwick Castle was fitted with mains electricity

1978

• NOVEMBER The Earl of Warwick's son, David, sells the Castle to the Tussard's group the company which owns Madame Tussaud's in London

1986

• The Victorian Rose Garden restored

1994

• the largest investment, the multi-million pound Kingmaker attraction, in the mediaeval undercroft, opens.

1996

• Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip visit the Castle

2000

• To mark the millennium, The Armoury is refurbished and the 'Death or Glory' attraction opens

2002

• The Castle Mill & Engine House opened

2005

• The World’s largest trebuchet arrived at Warwick Castle, measuring 18 metres high and weighing in at 22 tonnes.

2009

• The Castle Dungeon opens

2011

• Merlin: The Dragon Tower opens

2013

• Four never-before-seen rooms are opened in the Castle for the first time.