View of Maxstoke Castle, Warwickshire

This charming view was drawn by Hollar for Sir William Dugdale (1605-1686), who became his patron in 1652 after the artist returned from an eight year exile in Antwerp. Dugdale was an historian and antiquarian who, using Hollar as his illustrator, endeavoured to create a visual and written record of England's most important houses, monasteries and sacred buildings, many of which, by the 1650s, were already in a state of disrepair. Dugdale's most significant publications are Monasticum Anglicanum (1655), the History of St. Paul's Cathedral (1658) and the Antiquities of Warwickshire (1656), for which this drawing was made. The etched view of Maxstoke based on this drawing is one of 183 illustrations in the book, and is fairly close to the present day appearance of the medieval castle: the courtyard has changed, but both the octagonal turrets and gatehouse remain exactly as we see here.