Bletchingley Castle is in the village of a Bletchingley

Bletchingley

Bletchingley is a village in Surrey, England. It is on the A25 road to the east of Redhill and to the west of Godstone.-History:The village lay within the Anglo-Saxon administrative division of Tandridge hundred....

 in Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

 .

Late in the 12th century a rectangular tower was built on an earlier enclosure of earthworks by Richard Fitz Gilbert

Richard Fitz Gilbert

Richard fitz Gilbert , was a Norman lord who participated in the Norman conquest of England in 1066. He was also known as "de Bienfaite", "de Clare", and "de Tonbridge".-Biography:...

, founder of the de Clare family. In 1170 on the way to Canterbury

Canterbury

Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

 the four knights responsible for assassinating Thomas Becket

Thomas Becket

Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...

 stopped at Bletchingley Castle.

In the 1260s the castle was besieged

Siege

A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...

and taken by royal forces. It was destroyed but some earthworks still remain.

Whilst the site is now quite overgrown there are still remains of walls, door ways and arches visible.