Beeston's wells, treasure, and Civil War scarcity

Beeston's 124-metre well illustrates the engineering needed to keep a hilltop castle supplied with fresh water. The book links that practical feature to stories that Richard II hid bags of gold in the castle before his death. Reports of passages found inside the well keep the treasure legend alive, even though Richard's known valuables were recovered elsewhere. The account then moves to the English Civil War, when a tiny Royalist party entered by stealth and forced the governor to surrender. The governor was executed by his own side. A later Royalist garrison ate the castle cats and surrendered with almost no meat, ale, or beer left, apart from turkey pie, two biscuits, and a pair of live peacocks.