Kirby Muxloe Castle

Kirby Muxloe Castle
Kirby Muxloe Castle
Location within Leicestershire
General information
Architectural style	Fortified manor house
Town or city	Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire
Country	England
Coordinates	52°38′12″N 1°13′38″W / 52.6366°N 1.2272°W / 52.6366; -1.2272
Construction started	1480
Completed	Unfinished
Client	William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings

Kirby Muxloe Castle, known also as Kirby Castle is an unfinished 15th century fortified manor house in Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire, England (grid reference SK524046).

It was begun in 1480 by William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, during the period of the Wars of the Roses. He already owned a manor house on the site (some of the original manor house foundations are visible as ruins within the enclosure of the castle), for which he planned to totally redevelop. His ambition was to create a fortified residence on a rectangular plan enclosed by walls, towers and a moat. However work stopped at the castle when he was executed in 1483 for treason by Richard III and it was never completed. Parts of the castle were occupied by the remaining Hastings family members, but by the 16th century the site had been left to ruin.

The manor house on the site dates back to the 13th Century, and was once the home of the Pakeman family. Sir Simon Pakeman was the Lord of the Manor and a knight of the Shire at Parliament. The castle changed hands in 1364 when Robert de Herle, dying without an heir, left his land to his sister Margaret's son, Ralph Hastings of Wistow. Ralph's father was Sir Ralph Hastings of Wistow, who had married Margaret Herle, daughter of the then Lord of the Manor some years earlier.

Ralph Hastings is noted in the Duchy of Lancaster records as one of John of Gaunt's most trusted commanders in the field. He had three sons. The eldest son, another Ralph, became heir to the manor upon his father's death in 1398, but was implicated in the Scrope Rebellion and was executed. The middle son, Richard, then held the manor at Kirby until his death in 1436. The youngest brother, Leonard Hastings, then held the manor. He was appointed a sheriff for the counties of Leicester and Warwick in 1453, and fathered a son William Hastings in 1431.

Through his father's affairs in Leicester, William had gained a close friendship with Edward, the future King Edward IV of England. It was William Hastings who then inherited his father's estates upon his death in 1455, and as soon as Edward attained the throne in 1461, William received the title of Baron Hastings and became the holder of many awards and honours. In 1474 William obtained a licence from the King to enclose 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) near Ashby de la Zouch, 2,000 acres (810 ha) near Bagworth and 2,000 acres (810 ha) near Kirby. He had ceased to be a tenant at Kirby by acquiring the manorial rights from the Villiers family a few months before his inclosure schemes were licensed. He then also applied for a license to crenallate the house of the Manor, which would permit him to fulfil his plans to fortify his planned residence. Work then started on the castle in 1480.