Clearwell Castle is a mock Gothic mansion located in Clearwell, Gloucestershire. First known as Clearwell Court, it was built for Thomas Wyndham in 1728 to replace an older house which occupied same site. Its name was changed to Clearwell Castle in 1908.
The building was constructed of local stone in Gothic style with battlements, terraced gardens and a hall enclosed within a courtyard. It has an imposing gateway formed by two three-storey towers.
For a time after 1947 it lay empty and deserted but in the 1960s it was bought and restored by the son of the former estate gardener.
In the 1970s Clearwell Castle was used regularly as a rehearsal and recording studio by bands including Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Sweet and Bad Company. Deep Purple wrote their album Burn there in 1973. Led Zeppelin composed and rehearsed some of their album In Through the Out Door there in 1978. Black Sabbath came to the castle in 1973 seeking inspiration after a series of fruitless writing sessions in California. The band found what they were looking for (including "the riff that saved Black Sabbath") in an underground "dungeon" there, writing the critically acclaimed album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.
Clearwell Castle is now a nationally known wedding venue.
Clearwell castle offers exclusive use of the building and grounds for civil weddings, wedding breakfasts and wedding receptions year round. Clearwell court as it was know it it past life is very much marketed towards the "castle wedding". The main part of the day's events are held in a single room which has a gallery style, located on the ground level floor. Evening reception are held on the lower level in the "dungeon" and branches off into the lower rooms.
Almost all the wedding services offered by Clearwell castle is in-house.
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