Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle stands on a bend of the River Avon in the English county of Warwickshire, first built in 1068 as a wooden motte-and-bailey fortification on the orders of William the Conqueror, then rebuilt in stone during the twelfth to fourteenth centuries into the towered curtain-wall fortress that survives today. For centuries it served as the principal seat of the Earls of Warwick, one of England's most powerful noble titles, and its later owners added grand state apartments within the medieval walls to turn a working fortress into an aristocratic residence as well. The Tussauds Group acquired the castle in 1978 and developed it into a major heritage tourist attraction, and it has been operated since 2007 by Merlin Entertainments, which stages historical reenactments and events across its grounds and towers. Its Great Hall and gatehouse towers, including Caesar's Tower and Guy's Tower, remain among the best preserved examples of English medieval military architecture.