Melbourne Castle
Melbourne Castle | |
---|---|
Melbourne, Derbyshire | |
Coordinates | 52°49′22″N 1°25′27″W / 52.8227°N 1.4241°W |
Site history | |
Built | Crenellated in the 14th century |
Demolished | 1637 |
Melbourne Castle was a medieval castle in Melbourne, Derbyshire. It was built on the site of an earlier royal manor house that had provided accommodation for noblemen hunting in a nearby royal park in the reign of King John. Construction of the castle was started in 1311 by Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, and continued until 1322, shortly before his execution, but the work was never fully completed.
From the early 14th century, Melbourne Castle was mainly in the possession of the
The castle was in decline by the end of the reign of
Background
A
Description
The castle was built to the east of the 14th-century town on a slightly raised location. The area enclosed within the castle's outer walls was about 2.8 hectares (6.9 acres), but with outbuildings, other ancillary constructions and orchards, the total area has been estimated to be at least 8 hectares (20 acres). The walls were constructed with rubble faced with ashlar, and even without their former polished facings the walls are about 3 m (9.8 ft) thick.[2]
All that is known of the appearance of the castle is from contemporary drawings. Although these may seem fanciful to modern eyes, there are better preserved sites which share some features. Tutbury and Pontefract Castles both have similar gatehouses and chapels, and Tutbury's motte and Pontefract's curtain wall are also close in style to those in the illustrations. Sandal Castle has a multi-angular tower like those depicted, and this feature is confirmed at Melbourne by foundations which still remain.[7]
A bakehouse, kitchen and chapel are recorded, as well as the hall, great chamber, and drawbridge, but the details of the internal layout for the castle are unknown.[8]
History
Early years
Earl Thomas granted the manor to his steward,
Earl Thomas, with other barons, captured King Edward's favourite,
Lancastrian improvements
The castle, still unfinished at the time of Thomas' execution, along with its lands, remained as crown property until it was bestowed on
Peter Melbourne was made keeper of the Melbourne estate in 1377 with an annual income of £10. He was granted another 66
The Duchy of Lancaster continued to improve and expand the property through the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.[9] John of Gaunt had windows glazed in the Communal Hall and the Great Chamber in 1392/3, along with other works. He repaired a drawbridge in 1393/4 and made plumbing improvements in 1399/1400, using lead acquired as a forfeit two years earlier.[7]
For 19 years, the castle served as a prison for John I, Duke of Bourbon after he was taken at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.[18][d] His custodian was a Nicholas Montgomery the Younger.[2] Nineteenth-century local historian John Joseph Briggs claimed that during the Wars of the Roses, the castle was partially dismantled by the Lancastrian forces of Margaret of Anjou,[18] but since her campaign was along the line of the Great North Road, it was Melbourn, Cambridgeshire she sacked, not its Derbyshire namesake.[7][e]
In 1545,
Decline
When
In 1597, the castle was being used as a cattle pound,[21] although a survey in 1602 assured Elizabeth that it was a "faire and anciente castle, which her Majesty keepeth in her own hands."[6] The constable's annual fee of £10 was the same as that paid to Ingram Fauconer 140 years earlier.[2]
The castle and lands were bought for £4,700 in 1604, by Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon,[7] whose family seat at Ashby de la Zouch Castle was just 11 km (6.8 mi) away.[22] Melbourne Castle was destroyed between 1610 and 1637 so that its materials could be used in other construction.[23] By 1629, it is likely that all the worked stone above ground level had been removed; Sir John Coke of Melbourne Hall obtained permission from the Bishop of Carlisle in that year to quarry stone from the castle foundations.[20] Some of the facing stones were used to repair the weir at King's Mill, seen by some at the time to fulfil the words of a local prophet that "the waters of the Trent should overflow the towers of Melbourne castle".[2] The Hastings estate was gradually sold off,[24] and the castle site was sold by Earl Moira in 1811.[25]
Ruins and archaeology
A section of rubble wall about 15 m (49 ft) long and 4 m (13 ft) high remains,[7] incorporated into an outbuilding of the adjacent farm on its north side. The ruins and the later farmhouse are jointly grade II listed and the castle remains are designated as a scheduled monument. The area to the south of the wall has been excavated to reveal the ashlar bases of two polygonal towers. The site is on the east side of Castle Street in a private garden to which there is no public access.[26][27]
Some of the stone taken from the castle was used to construct the mid-18th-century grade II-listed buildings at 43 and 45 Castle Street,[7][28] and other buildings known to have used the stone, but no longer extant, include old houses demolished to build the Castle Mill textile factory. The mill, now demolished, was said to have been built on castle foundations up to 4 m (13 ft) thick; 15 Castle Street also rests on the old foundation wall. It is likely that the former Melbourne Furnace and the Furnace Farm barn also used recycled castle material.[7]
An early 19th-century excavation found underground apartments "of considerable extent and superior workmanship", and excavations in the latter part of the same century found considerable foundations in the gardens of Castle Farm. Castle Mills housing estate contains a now-covered well 2 m (6.6 ft) in width and 15 m (49 ft) deep, and work in 1961 uncovered massive 5 m (16 ft) foundations east of the old mill and on the same alignment as the existing wall. Excavations in 1969–1971 found an extensive network of walls faced with ashlar, a door post, the base of a spiral staircase and evidence of an outer courtyard. Many stones had mason's marks.[7] During construction works in 1988, masonry including the rubble centres of two large east–west walls was found in test trenches.[20] Apart from the area of the turret bases next to the standing wall, none of the archaeology is now visible.[7]
See also
Notes
- ^ For comparison, the average annual baronial income for the top 27 barons in that period was £668.[10]
- ^ Henry had no male heir, so his title, Duke of Lancaster, died with him. It was recreated for John of Gaunt, who is also the first duke, but of the second creation. The Duchy of Lancaster has been a royal privilege since 1413.[15]
- ^ A statue of a knight in Melbourne church has the de Melbourne arms of a chevron and three scallops.[7]
- ^ Bourbon was granted 20s a day as keep for himself and his retinue, and 33s 4d when travelling. He was allowed to visit the Duke of Orléans, who was held in Pontefract castle, and to go to London.[7]
- ^ The original source, Stowe's Annals of England, listed the towns as Grantham, Stamford, Peterborrow (Peterborough), Huntingdon, Royston, Meleborne and "all the townes by the way into St Albans". The Melbourne concerned is 3.2 km (2.0 mi) from Royston.[7]
- ^ "pretty and in appropriately good repair." Of 258 castles surveyed by Leland, only 91 were described as in good condition.[19]
References
- ^ a b c d Heath (2005), pp. 1–2.
- ^ a b c d e f Briggs (1852), pp. 43–49.
- ^ a b c Fane (1895), pp. 92–93.
- ^ a b Stroud (2002), pp. 1, 5.
- ^ Greenway (1971).
- ^ a b c d Lysons & Lysons (1817), pp. 209–210.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Usher (1991).
- ^ Stroud (2002), pp. 25, 28.
- ^ a b Emery (1996), p. 422.
- ^ Pounds (1993), p. 147.
- ^ Mel Morris Conservation (2011), pp. 6, 17.
- ^ Mel Morris Conservation (2011), p. 4.
- ^ Rickard (2002), p. 168; Usher (1991).
- ^ Emery (1996), p. 422; Heath (2005), pp. 1–2.
- ^ "Privy Purse and Duchy of Lancaster". Royal Household. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
- ^ Weir (2008) p. 135.
- ^ Curry (2013), pp. 18–20.
- ^ a b Firth (1905), p. 20.
- ^ Thompson (2008), p. 104.
- ^ a b c Stroud (2002), pp. 14–17.
- ^ Black (2006), p. 18.
- ^ Goodall, John. "Ashby de la Zouch Castle". History and Research. English Heritage. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
- ^ Black (2006), p. 18; Emery (1996), p. 422.
- ^ Stroud (2002), p. 10.
- ^ Heath (2005), p. 4.
- ^ "Castle Farmhouse and Ruins of Melbourne Castle and Outbuildings, Melbourne". British Listed Buildings. Britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
- ^ Historic England. "Melbourne Castle Fortified Manor and Earlier Medieval Manorial Remains (1008610)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
- ^ "43 and 45, Castle Street, Melbourne". British Listed Buildings. Britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
Cited texts
- ISBN 978-0-275-99039-8.
- Briggs, John Joseph (1852). The History of Melbourne, in the County of Derby: Including Biographical Notices of the Coke, Melbourne, and Hardinge Families (2nd ed.). Derby: Bemrose & Son.
- ISBN 978-1-903153-46-8.
- Emery, Anthony (1996). Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500: East Anglia, Central England and Wales. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-58131-8.
- Fane, W. Dashwood (1895). "The Date of the Parish Church of Melbourne, Derbyshire". Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. XVII. Derby: Derbyshire Archaeological Society: 82–94.
- Firth, John Benjamin (1905). Highways and Byways in Derbyshire. Illustrated by Erichsen, Nelly. London: Macmillan and Co.
- Greenway, Diana E., ed. (1971). "Bishops of Carlisle". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300. Vol. 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces). London: Institute of Historical Research. pp. 19–21. Retrieved 19 October 2013 – via British History Online.
- Heath, Philip (2005). Melbourne: Conservation Area Histories, District of South Derbyshire (PDF). Swadlincote, Derbyshire: South Derbyshire District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 October 2013.
- Lysons, Daniel; Lysons, Samuel (1817). Magna Britannia: Being a Concise Topographical Account of the Several Counties of Great Britain. Vol. 5: Derbyshire. London: Cadell.
- Mel Morris Conservation (2011). Melbourne Conservation Area Character Statement (PDF). Swadlincote, Derbyshire: South Derbyshire District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-521-45828-3.
- Rickard, John (2002). The Castle Community: The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272–1422. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-913-3.
- Stroud, Gill (2002). Derbyshire Extensive Urban Survey Archaeological Assessment Report: Melbourne. Matlock, Derbyshire: Derbyshire Archaeology Data Service.
- Thompson, Michael W. (2008). The Decline of the Castle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-08397-3.
- Usher, Howard (1991). "Melbourne Castle" (PDF). Derbyshire Miscellany. 12 (5). Stafford: Derbyshire Archaeological Society: 126–132. ISSN 0417-0687.
- Weir, Alison (2008). Katherine Swynford. London: Vintage. ISBN 978-0-7126-4197-5.