Beeston Castle is significant for a number of reasons. It needs to be appreciated that although what remains on site today chiefly represents the achievement of medieval builders, much of what is significant about Beeston is, unfortunately, not as tangible and cannot be fully appreciated on the ground.
Prehistory
Beeston’s importance in the prehistoric period is significant to the wider region. The excavated finds suggest that it was a major metal working site during the later Bronze Age.
Despite the fact that only a relatively small area of the site has been excavated, the scale of the late Iron-Age defences suggest a much larger enclosure and it therefore seems likely that the hillfort extended over all of the area later occupied by the medieval castle. If this was indeed the case, then this would mean that Beeston was the largest hillfort constructed in what was later to become Cheshire.
The Middle Ages
As the means by which castle-building could act as visual projection of lordship across a large area, Beeston is an example par excellence. The castle also represents a good example of the kind of building that was deemed appropriate for an earl in early 13th century England and also the kind of fortress and location that was felt necessary to potentially resist a siege.
Ranulf’s works belong to a period when the design of gatehouses was becoming more complex and the defences and domestic provision moving to the outer curtain. The design of the gatehouse has close affinities with that built by Llewellyn the Great at Criccieth, in Gywnedd, and Castle Roche, near Dundalk, and so is part of a group of structures attesting to changing trends in castle design.
Beeston also stands as an example of how castles on the English border with Wales should not automatically be interpreted as fortresses connected with frontier defence. Beeston is located in a curious place if preventing incursions from the Welsh was its primary purpose. The castle stands to the east of Chester, rather than to the more vulnerable west of the county.
Furthermore, before Ranulf of Chester left for Crusade he had entered into a truce with his powerful neighbour, the Welsh prince Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Gwynedd (c 1173–1240). This alliance continued on Ranulf’s return in 1220 and meant that at the time of the castle’s construction the northern part of the English border was secure.
Any threat to Ranulf’s position that led him to construct Beeston castle came not from marauding Welshmen, but from power struggles within the English court and its message was directed towards England, not Wales.
The relationship between the castle and its immediate landscape is also of interest. It is probably significant that one of the first documentary references to the castle concerned the use of eyries for the king; it suggests that the surrounding area was used in some way as a hunting ground. A deer park certainly existed at neighbouring Peckforton, as parkland timber was used in building work at the castle in 1359–60.
It is also possible that the castle provided the inspiration for Sir Bertilak’s castle in the Middle English poem 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'. If so, this further underlines the importance of Beeston within its contemporary setting.
A Civil War Castle
Beeston is not alone in being a castle that was never subjected to a major siege during the course of the Middle Ages. The re-use of the castle during the Civil War is, however, significant, not just because it means that Beeston belongs to a group of castles that were re-fortified, but also because it shows how a medieval fortress could still have military value centuries after its initial construction.
The excavated finds from the castle dating to this time represent an assemblage from a period of protracted siege warfare and contain some important individual pieces, such as a well-preserved ‘Jack of Plate’, a type of armour comprising small iron plates sewn between layers of felt and canvas.
The Picturesque
The trend for building ‘follies’, or incorporating ruined buildings into post-medieval gardens and parkland, is a well-known aspect of landscape design in the 18th and 19th centuries. Beeston is one of the most dramatic examples of its kind, as there are few country houses that can boast a genuine medieval castle as part of the landscape.
Although there are many examples of older ruins being used in the settings of post-medieval houses, the juxtaposition of a major 13th century fortress with 19th century pseudo-castle is unique in England.
Finally, the long story of Beeston castle is significant in itself. Albeit for different reasons, people have been drawn to the crag for over two millennia. As an example of how physical geography gives a particular sense of place over a long period of time, Beeston castle stands as a supreme example.
