Standing majestically on sheer, rocky crags, Beeston Castle has perhaps the most stunning views from any castle in England. Its history stretches back over 4,000 years, to when it was a Bronze Age hill fort. The huge castle was built from 1226 and soon became a royal stronghold, only falling centuries later during the English Civil War. Inspired by what he had heard when knights returned from the Holy Land in the early thirteenth Century, Earl Ranulf of Chester had set about building himself this virtually impregnable castle.