Tilsworth Castle Tilsworth Castle refers to both " Warren Knoll Motte " and " Tilsworth Manor " , both built in the same general area , located in the civil parish of Tilsworth , in the county of Bedfordshire , England . Warren Knoll Motte . The first " Tilsworth Castle " , now known as " Warren Knoll Motte " , was a pre - 11th century motte - and - bailey castle , built prior to the Norman Invasion in 1066 . Originally a Saxon stronghold , it was held by Levric , son of Osmund . It was a timber castle , and believed to have had outer fortifications to the east and north . Mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as " Tilsworth Manor " , it was at that time held by William Peverel . By the middle of the 13th century , the castle had passed into the Morteyn family , and was held by seven members of that family before passing , in 1362 , into the hands of a Morteyn cousin , Richard Chamberlain . The manor was thus in the Chamberlain family , passing to Richard ' s son Richard ( d . 24 August 1396 ) , and then to Richard ' s grandson Richard ( 1390 – 1439 ) , a minor at the time of his inheritance . During his minority , the manor was held by his mother Margaret Chamberlain ( d . 18 April 1408 ) , ( née de Lovaine ) , and stepfather Philip St . Clair , until his possession of it , upon Margaret ' s death , in 1408 . His death in 1439 , and the death of his elder son Richard in the same year , left the manor in the possession of his younger son William Chamberlain . Sometime around Richard ' s death , during the 15th century , a new manor house was built across from the church . The old one falling into ruins thereafter . Nothing but cropmarks and earthworks remain . The site was excavated in 1972 , and is listed as a Scheduled Monument . Tilsworth Manor . Built just beside Warren Knoll , on lower ground , was the second " Tilsworth Castle " , a 15th - century fortified , and moat ed , manor house . The manor was inclosed by an Act of Parliament in 1767 . It was demolished about the year 1800 and a new manor house was built on the same location . It was most likely built by Richard Chamberlain ( d . 1496 ) , the son of the previous mentioned William Chamberlain . The manor passed to Richard ' s son Edward Chamberlain ( b . 1479 ) , who gave it to his maternal grandfather Sir Richard Fowler in 1528 . It was held in the Fowler family for only 3 generations , until sold by Richard Fowler , in 1606 , to Sir Anthony Chester . The sale of the estate followed an incident , in 1600 , during which Richard Fowler was imprisoned in the Tower of London as the result of a forged letter implicating him in a plot to poison Queen Elizabeth I . Richard ' s young wife , her lover and her brother were later convicted of the forgery . The estate then passed through the hands of eight members of the Chester family before being sold by Charles Chester to Sir Gregory Osborn Page - Turner , son of Gregory Page - Turner , 3rd Baronet , in 1838 . The property was then in the ownership of that family , in the forms of Mr . F . A . Page - Turner and Sir E . H . Page - Turner , until the latter ' s death in 1898 , at which time it was held by his trustees . Currently on the site is the third manor , of the same name , built in the 19th century by a member of the Chester family , which still retains the 15th century gate tower and the moat . The current Tilsworth Manor is a private residence , though the Tilsworth Fête is held in the grounds each June . This last site of " Tilsworth Castle " is a Scheduled Monument .