Bletchingley Castle
Bletchingley Castle | |
---|---|
bailey | |
Height | 2m |
Site information | |
Owner | Various |
Open to the public | No (access road and path at foot to south are rights of way thus only to be used as such) |
Condition | Ruined |
Site history | |
Materials | unknown stone |
Bletchingley Castle is a ruined castle and set of earthworks partly occupied by three buildings. The
History
Late in the 12th century a rectangular tower was built on an earlier enclosure of earthworks by
In the 1260s the castle was besieged and taken by royal forces. The tower was destroyed.[1]
The remains of the masonry defences point to mid-12th-century work and indicate a masonry castle of the time of
Owners
The land on which the castle had stood became separated from the manor (to the north), and appears to have been held in the 16th century by a Cholmeley, who also held land called Unwins (a name seen in certain later place names in the parish), which lay close by the site below the hill. According to Manning the site afterwards belonged to a Drake family, who assumed the name of Brockman in the late 18th century. In 1793 James Drake Brockman sold it to John Kenrick, whose brothers, Matthew and Jarvis, afterwards held in turn. It belonged to this family when Edward Wedlake Brayley[n 1] wrote about the county. After Mr. James Norris, who built Castle Hill about 1860 it belonged to a Mr. Partridge.[3]
The castle as such became part of the grounds of the house Castle Hill — it was home of Mr. A. P. Brandt in 1911.[3]
Ruins
The site has been quite overgrown for many years but vegetation does not cover part of the minority of materials that remain, as walls, doorways and arches.
Specifically, one outer ditch has been partially infilled and the site has been indented by foundation-laying, associated water pipes, drain, electricity cable and access road for the 19th century construction of the Castle Hill home and now separately owned Stable House and Garden Cottage near the centre of the large mound, its
An extract from the schedule monument determination is:[2]
The monument includes a castle of the Norman period which comprises an inner near-circular enclosure, or ringwork, and an outer enclosure, or bailey. The ringwork is defined by a massive ditch on the northern and eastern sides which still survives to a depth of over 6m. On the inner edge is an earthen bank or rampart which stands to between 1.4 and 2.4m above the level of the land in the interior. The ditch is spanned on the NE side by a causeway 3m wide which marks the original access route into the inner part of the castle. The bank and ditch of the ringwork gives way on the south side to the steep natural slope of the hill, while on the western side it has been partially levelled to make room for a large Victorian house. The main building within the ringwork was a house some 24m square. Its undercroft survives in places to a height of 2.5m beneath rubble from the house's collapse. The house had living quarters on the first floor, to which access was gained via stairs at the NW and SE corners. The house has been partially excavated, but the north-eastern half remains uninvestigated. The outer defences comprise a bank and ditch which surround the ringwork on all sides except the south, although they have been levelled on the western side. To the north and east the bank survives to a maximum height of 1.6m and averages 7m across. Between the inner and outer defences was the bailey, where ancillary buildings such as stables and storage huts were sited.
Towards the north-west is a small mound which may mark the site of a barbican.
Notes and references
- Notes
- ^ Brayley, Edward Wedlake History of Surrey (5 vols., 1841–1848)
- References
- ^ ISBN 0-7153-7976-3
- ^ a b c Scheduled Ancient Monument Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1013374)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
- ^ a b c H.E. Malden, ed. (1912). "Parishes: Blechingley". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
Further reading
- Turner, Dennis (1986–87), "Bletchingley Castle excavation. Part III" (PDF), Surrey Archaeological Society Buletin, 216: 3–4
- Turner, Dennis (1996), "The Norman owners of Blechingley Castle: a review" (PDF), Surrey Archaeological Collections, 83: 37–56
- Turner, Dennis (2014), "The later owners of Bletchingley Castle" (PDF), Surrey Archaeological Collections, 98: 175–190