Inspiration – Belvoir Castle

Belvoir Castle is a stately home in the English county of Leicestershire, overlooking the Vale of Belvoir. It is a Grade I listed building. The castle is near several villages, including Redmile, Woolsthorpe, Knipton, Harston, Harlaxton, Croxton Kerrial and Bottesford, and the town of Grantham. Antiquarian John Leland wrote in the 16th century that the “castle stands on the very name of a high hill, steep up each way, partly by nature, partly by the working of men’s hands”.A corner of the castle is still used as the family home of the Manners family and remains the seat of the Dukes of Rutland, most of whom are buried in the grounds of the mausoleum there. A Norman castle originally stood on the high ground in this spot. During the English Civil War, it was one of the more notable strongholds of the king’s supporters. It eventually passed into the hands of the Dukes of Rutland and following a fire, was rebuilt by the wife of the 5th Duke, and gained its present Gothic castle look.   read more