Name: Bolsover Castle
Address: Castle Street, Bolsover, Derbyshire, S44 6PR
Telephone: 01246 822844

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Bolsover Castle

Festive Stories with Father Christmas | Weekends in December

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Open weekends, 10am - 4pm.

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Address

Castle Street, Bolsover, Derbyshire, S44 6PR

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Cash for Kids: Mission Christmas

This year English Heritage are supporting Hallam FM-Cash for Kids ‘Mission Christmas’ campaign. The mission is to ensure that no child in South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire goes without a gift this Christmas. We're providing drop off points at Bolsover Castle, Brodsworth Hall and Gardens and Conisbrough Castle. If you would like to, you can support the campaign by donating a present. Pop your gift, new and unwrapped, into the collection point and Hallam FM will wrap and distribute the gifts to children in need.

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Things to See and Do

Car-free Travel Discount

Escape the traffic and travel to Bolsover Castle by train, bus or bicycle and be rewarded with 20% off your walk-up ticket. Show your bus or train ticket, or bike helmet, at the point of purchase to receive your discount. English Heritage are working with Good Journey to encourage sustainable travel to Bolsover Castle, click here to find out more and for help planning your route.

What's On

Festive Stories with Father Christmas

Sat 2 & Sun 3, Sat 9 & Sun 10, Sat 16 & Sun 17 and Sat 23 Dec 2023 10:30am, 11.10am, 11.50am, 12.30pm, 1.20pm, 2pm, 2.40pm, 3.20pm
Carols at the Castle

Thu 7 &14 Dec 2023 7pm - 9pm (6.30pm arrival)
Half Term History Makers at Bolsover Castle

Sat 17 - Sun 25 Feb 2024 10am - 4pm

Bolsover Castle Timeline

1068A Norman Gift

William the Conqueror grants custody of his new castle at Nottingham and the large manor of Bolsover to one of his knights, William Peveril.

Find out more about the history of Bolsover Castle

1155Royal Seizure

Peveril’s son takes the wrong side against Henry II and forfeits his estates to the Crown.

1216First Barons’ War

A group of barons fight against King John after he refuses to accept the terms of Magna Carta. Bolsover Castle is besieged.

1322Temporary Abandonment

The garrison stands down and the buildings gradually fall into decay.

1612–17The Little Castle

The ruins provide the setting for the Little Castle, begun in 1612 by Sir Charles Cavendish as a retreat from his principal seat at Welbeck Abbey, a few miles away.

1617–33Fit for a King

Charles’s son William inherits. He completes his father’s decoration of the Little Castle and renovates the ‘old house’ with state apartments, a gallery and a hall.

1634Royal Feast

Charles I, Henrietta Maria, their royal entourage and all of Nottinghamshire’s and Derbyshire’s gentry feast at Bolsover. They are entertained by Ben Jonson’s Love’s Welcome at Bolsover.

1640–44Civil War

William is appointed commander-in-chief of the northern Royalist counties. After his wife dies and he loses the Battle of Marston Moor, he despairs and goes to Paris in exile.

1649Demolition

The Parliamentary Council of State orders the slighting (deliberate destruction) of Bolsover to prevent it being used by Royalists.

1660A Cavendish Return

William and his second wife, Margaret, return from abroad and begin to restore their estates. At Bolsover, they rebuild the state apartment in the Terrace Range and build the Riding House Range.

1770sRomantic Return

Bolsover passes through marriage to the Dukes of Portland. The Terrace Grange is unroofed, becoming a ruin that attracts antiquarian and artistic interest.

1833Guardians

John Hamilton Gray becomes vicar of the parish. He and his family carry out alterations and repairs to the Little Castle, where they live as guardians.