The Red Castle mentioned in The Adventures of Alianore Audley, is a real place, albeit not very much is left of it. It is in Hawkstone Park and was formerly one of the main residences of the Touchet/Audley family.
The spelling of ‘Touchet’ varies enormously. Some members of the family used ‘Touchet’ while others used ‘Audley’ and they seemed to have changed their minds from time to time. I recently found a case of Sir John Touchet, Lord Audley, calling himself Sir John Audley. That scuppered one of my theories. It appears they used whichever version they fancied on the day.
The castle is said to have been built in 1227. Like the family, it had a variety of names, including Hawkstone. However, the reason it was called the Red Castle (or variants thereof) is that it was built of red stone. The family also had Heighley Castle in Staffordshire and a couple of small Welsh marcher lordships. By Tudor times the Red Castle had fallen into disuse, according to Leland.
There are some Arthurian legends associated with the Red Castle. Not only is King Arthur supposed to be buried in one of the caves nearby, but it is also said that the Holy Grail was lodged in another of them.
Maybe Alianore Audley did not tell us everything!
See also This Article
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