Berry Pomeroy ruins (in Devon, UK)
On a wooded hill, close to the River Dart in southern Devon, lie the unusual remains of Berry Pomeroy Castle. This site was first occupied by the Pomeroy family during… Read More »Berry Pomeroy ruins (in Devon, UK)
gatehouse
Montagu Palace (Beaulieu Abbey) & Beaulieu Abbey Church
Formerly the 14th century Great Gatehouse of Beaulieu Abbey, Palace House is set in glorious grounds and gardens with immaculate spreading lawns and walkways overlooking the Beaulieu River. The House… Read More »Montagu Palace (Beaulieu Abbey) & Beaulieu Abbey Church
Arundel Castle (West Sussex, England) – the history | and as Movie Scene
Erected shortly after the Norman Conquest, by Roger de Montgomery in 1067, Arundel Castle was to protect the gap that had been carved by the River Arun through the South… Read More »Arundel Castle (West Sussex, England) – the history | and as Movie Scene
Bodiam Castle (in Sussex)
Sussex, a former military stronghold, uninhabited since the Civil War; location for many movies. Bodiam Castle is situated beside the River Rother in East Sussex. The castle was built in… Read More »Bodiam Castle (in Sussex)
Charlecote Park
Warwickshire, has been the home of the Lucy family since 1247, and the present house was built in 1558. The house was vigorously renovated in 1830s, and only the two-storey… Read More »Charlecote Park
Bishop’s Waltham Palace
Bishop’s Waltham, Southampton, Hampshire
The last Bishop of Winchester to reside at Bishop’s Waltham left in a dung cart disguised as a farm labourer! He was escaping from Oliver Cromwell’s troops after unsuccessfully defending his palace, which was torn down and never rebuilt. Bishop’s Waltham was at the peak of its importance during the medieval period when it was the seat of the bishops of Winchester.
The palace once stood in an enormous park of some 10,000 acres. Most of the remains to be seen today date from the 12th and 14th centuries. There are substantial parts of the Great Hall and three-storey tower, and the moat which once surrounded the palace can be seen in places. A brick wall which once encircled the palace is still in place. Nearby is the abbot’s fish pond. Conservation is now complete on part of the north-east range of guest rooms, latterly a farmhouse. Inside is an exhibition on the history of Bishop’s Waltham Palace. Bishops Waltham Palace
Aberystwyth Castle
In the marvellous sweep of Cardigan Bay stand the ruins of one of Edward I’s late 13th century castles. Of the seven major English strongholds he established in Wales, Aberystwyth has fared least favourably in the survival stakes. Now little more than a few fragmented chunks of masonry displayed in a well-kept public park, the castle has lost its imposing hold on the town.
At one time guarded by one of the largest Iron Age forts in West Wales, Aberystwyth has been a place of strategic importance throughout history. The first Norman castle, built on a site further south, was begun by Gilbert de Clare but this has long since disappeared, having been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times during 200 years of political and family feuding. When Edward I begun his castle in 1277, it was a magnificent lozenge-plan concentric building of two stone curtain enclosures, flanked by sturdy round towers. Each curtain had a twin-towered gatehouse, the smaller outer gate leading to a barbican, and the inner gatehouse a substantial fortress with domestic accommodation. Excavations have revealed that a great hall stretched from this gatehouse to the south tower of the inner curtain, some 60ft long (18.3m) and 42ft wide (12.8m).