Castle Studies Trust

14/06/2026

Following two successful Parliamentary sieges of Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire, during the English Civil War the castle was ordered to be systematically slighted. This seemed to be confirmed by primary documentary sources, which included depositions taken from five craftsmen stating that the castle had been fully destroyed which had been signed off by two judges from Gloucester, Edward Slaughter and Robert Megge

However new scientific tests, dendro dating (tree ring analysis) carried out by Gloucestershire Historic Buildings Group and funded by the Trust, have shown this doesn’t seem to be the case. To learn more read here: https://castlestudiestrust.org/blog/2026/06/14/tree-ring-dating-of-previously-unidentified-elizabethan-roofs-at-sudeley-castle/

09/06/2026

For all castle fans in and around the Chester area and even for those further afield this event on Saturday 20 June looks an absolute must, with a great line up of speakers::

Join English Heritage for a landmark day of discovery as we celebrate a new era of interpretation at Chester Castle.

07/06/2026

Castle Studies Trust Increases Maximum Grant Award to £15,000

The Castle Studies Trust is delighted to announce that for our next round of grants, which will open in September, we will be increasing the maximum grant award to £15,000.

The Trust awards grants to advance our understanding of castles and the type of projects we fund are:
• Site-based survey work (e.g. geophysical, architectural, topographical, -LiDAR)
• Excavations
• Scientific tests on objects/materials from a castle site (e.g. radiocarbon dating)
• Review of historical sources (only as part of a Castle Studies Trust funded project)
• Pieces of work, such as reconstruction drawings, which would help the public understanding of a castle site.

Applications open on 1 September 2026 and close on 1 December 2026 and for more information, including an application form you can go here: https://castlestudiestrust.org/Grants.html

If you have any questions about possible applications please contact the chair of trustees Jeremy Cunnington on admin at castlesudiestrust dot org.

31/05/2026

We have a Tower House problem, or so says Dr Sarah Kerr of University College Cork and one of our expert grant assessor says in a guest article for our latest blog. To find out what she means and her thoughts on solving them, read here: https://castlestudiestrust.org/blog/2026/05/31/the-tower-house-problem/

17/05/2026

"So you would like to extend the amount of accommodation in the inner ward my Lord? May I suggest building over the existing moat?"

In his latest piece for our blog, project lead Tom Addyman explains what he and the team learnt from their second visit to survey the inner ward of Cockermouth Castle including the importance of archival research. The inner ward seems to have multiple phases dating to earlier than previously thought:
https://castlestudiestrust.org/blog/2026/05/17/cockermouth-castle-building-survey-diary-update-2/

10/05/2026

From the late thirteenth century onwards, knights in royal service became increasingly wealthy enough to start building their own castles.

In recent years, the Trust has funding building surveys of two of them of Picton ( https://castlestudiestrust.org/blog/2024/04/28/picton-castle-baronial-innovation-in-southwest-wales/ ) and Leybourne ( https://castlestudiestrust.org/blog/2025/07/06/leybourne-castle-kent-a-monument-to-female-patronage/)

Another such case is Edlingham in Northumberland, where the royal knight, William de Felton built a castle. The castle was excavated in the late in the late 70s and early 80s by a team led by Graham Fairclough. Rather than a traditional excavation write up a new book, Graham take looks a look at the castle through the context of the life of its builder. Here Graham explains what he discovered: https://castlestudiestrust.org/blog/2026/05/10/edlingham-the-13th-14th-century-northumbrian-house-of-a-well-travelled-knight-of-the-royal-household/

06/05/2026

A week after the end of the community excavation at Knepp, the project leads shares what we've learned so far. There will be more to come once specialists have examined the finds. https://castlestudiestrust.org/blog/2026/05/06/ten-days-digging-at-knepp-castle/

Ten days digging at Knepp Castle From 20 April to 29 April, a community excavation took place at Knepp Castle involving local history and archaeology groups. Richard Nevell looks back on the dig. I woke up early on Monday 20 April to travel to Knepp Castle, navigating my way before rush hour began.....

29/04/2026

That's the final day of the community dig at Knepp. There'll be some follow-up: recording the archaeology tomorrow and finds analysis later. So we have one last update from the field.

29/04/2026

The last day of digging is underway at Knepp Castle

26/04/2026

That's one full week at Knepp, and what a week it's been with bones, pottery, shells, and visitors.