Bolsover Castle

Bolsover Castle crowns a limestone ridge above the Derbyshire market town of Bolsover, its origins stretching back to the Norman conquest. Built in the 12th century by the Peveril family — who also held Peveril Castle in the Peak District — it passed into royal hands under Henry II in 1155. In the early 17th century, Sir Charles Cavendish transformed the medieval remains into a flamboyant Stuart-era pleasure house; the compact 'Little Castle' survives largely intact, its elaborately painted interiors a rare example of Jacobean decoration. Now managed by English Heritage and listed as a Grade I building and Scheduled Monument, the site offers visitors crumbling fortification walls, a reconstructed baroque garden, and open grounds with views across the surrounding countryside.