Bolingbroke Castle

When I first went here many moons ago it wasa grass mound. Now it has high walls, and is a real castle ruins, due to excavation.
It is free to go in just climb over the style. Another pace best visited at dusk for atmosphere.
This was John of Gaunts Castle brought to him by his wife Blanche and was the birthpace of Henry Bolingbroke, King Henry IV. It was finally destroyed in the Civil War after falling into disrepair. Bolingbroke having become a backwater. In 1652 Bolingbroke Castle was slighted, with a section of curtain wall and much of the upper walls removed and thrown into the moat by the Royalists to make it useless for military purposes
It is a bit off the beaten track and the road is like a rollercoaster but well worth a visit.
Beware walking around the outside in the dry moat as it is very marshy and soggy.
The pub has a candle auction once a year too. The Ramsden family of Hareby gave 6.6 acres of land to Old Bolingbroke for recreation it was agreed it should be let for grazing each summer via a pin and candle auction.
At such an auction, a pin is stuck into a lighted candle and the last bid received before it falls out is the winning bid.