The remains of Ashley Castle are in the small village of

Ashley, Test Valley Ashley is a village and civil parish in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England, west of Winchester. Its nearest town is Stockbridge, which lies 2.6 miles (4.2 km) north-west. At the 2001 census the parish had a population of 72. ...

, in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

(). The visible remains now consist of sections of the ditch and ramparts.

Construction

The castle (also sometimes referred to as Gains Castle), was originally built in 1138, on the site of a former

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

fort. The site is likely to have been of strategic value, having a well, standing on high ground above the Somborne valley, and lying a short distance from the Roman road from Winchester to Sarum. Its builder was the powerful

Henry de Blois Henry of Blois ( c. 1096 8 August 1171), often known as Henry of Winchester, was Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey from 1126, and Bishop of Winchester from 1129 to his death. He was a younger son of Stephen Henry, Count of Blois by Adela of Normandy, ...

, a grandson of

William I of England William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

, and the younger brother of King Stephen. Henry de Blois was the Bishop of Winchester from 1129 until his death 1171, a prolific builder (including of Wolvesey Palace, the bishop's palace in Winchester, and of a number of castles), and one of the most powerful figures of his day in the English kingdom.

Slighting

The castle was built during the Anarchy, a prolonged period of unrest and civil war between opposing factions led by King Stephen and the Empress Matilda. The Anarchy ended with the consensual accession of Matilda's son Henry II in 1154. Shortly afterwards, in 1155, Ashley Castle was

slighted Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative or social structures. This destruction of property sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It is ...

(partially demolished), along with other castles built by Henry of Blois. Although Henry II was the son of the Empress Matilda, and Henry of Blois was the brother of her adversary, King Stephen, this was not necessarily an act of retaliation against Henry of Blois; in re-asserting royal authority through the realm, Henry II destroyed numerous unauthorised castles that had been raised during the Anarchy. Further, Henry of Blois had been directly involved in negotiating the peace settlement which ended the Anarchy.

Reconstruction

Despite its slighting in the 1150's, Ashley castle was to have a second lease of life. Within fifty years, during the reign of Henry II's son King John, Ashley Castle was restored by a new owner,

William Briwere William Briwere (died 1244) was a medieval Bishop of Exeter. Early life Briwere was the nephew of William Brewer, a baron and political leader during King Henry III of England's minority.Vincent ''Peter des Roches'' p. 213 Nothing else is k ...

the elder (c.1145-1226), probably in stone. William Briwere was a wealthy landowner who held the manor of Ashley, as well as large estates in the west country. He was a powerful man and a leading counsellor of three successive kings of England, King

Richard I of England Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...

, King

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and King Henry III. In an early account Briwere was referred to as one of King John's "evil advisers". Intriguingly for aficionados of

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...

, one of the offices he held, from 1194 to 1199, was

High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

, which makes him a theoretical model for the fictitious

Sheriff of Nottingham The Sheriff of Nottingham is the main antagonist in the legend of Robin Hood. He is generally depicted as an unjust tyrant who mistreats the local people of Nottinghamshire, subjecting them to unaffordable taxes. Robin Hood fights against him, ...

in the Robin Hood legend. He is also said to have been involved in the signing of Magna Carta in 1215 (though perhaps reluctantly, given his allegiance to the King), founded

Mottisfont Abbey Mottisfont Abbey is a historical priory and country estate in Hampshire, England. Sheltered in the valley of the River Test, the property is now operated by the National Trust. 393,250 people visited the site in 2019. The site includes the histo ...

, a house of Augustinian canons six miles from Ashley (to whom he donated St Mary's Church, Ashley), and ended his days in 1226 as a Cistercian monk at Dunkeswell Abbey in Devon. In 1200 King John granted Briwere a

licence to crenellate In medieval England, Wales and the Channel Islands a licence to crenellate (or licence to fortify) granted the holder permission to fortify his property. Such licences were granted by the king, and by the rulers of the counties palatine within th ...

a number of castles, including, in Hampshire, one at either Stockbridge or Ashley, at Briwere's election. Briwere chose Ashley (referred to in the grant as "Esleg"). (There is no castle in Stockbridge, so the reference to it in the grant is a mystery; it may conceivably have been to the ancient hill fort above that town at Woolbury). In an age when the crown saw a potential rebel stronghold in every castle held by a nobleman, and the Anarchy was a recent memory, permission to fortify in this way was a rare privilege. Only five known licences to crenellate were granted in 1200, three of them to John Briwere.

Seat of the Warden of West Bere

King John is documented as having stayed frequently at Ashley, possibly in connection with hunting expeditions in the

royal forest A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...

of West Bere (also known as Bere Ashley), part of the

Forest of Bere The Forest of Bere is a mixed-use partially forested area in Hampshire immediately north of Fareham, Portsmouth and Roman Road, Havant and including a small part of the South Downs National Park. Ashley was the administrative headquarters of the

of West Bere. Official crown business is known to have been transacted from the castle, as a number of royal letters from this era are headed 'Ashley'. The chief royal officer for the forest (which included villages) was the Warden, who had responsibility for enforcing forest law. Wardens were generally important magnates, as Briwere was. The Warden of West Bere had his manor at Ashley, and would have stayed in Ashley castle when in residence. Many royal forests in England had a castle headquarters of this sort. In addition to serving as a residence, pleas were heard, poachers sometimes imprisoned and forest officers housed there. Despite its role as an administrative base for crown land, Ashley Castle appears always to have been considered as part of the manor of Ashley rather than as crown property, and the interests of the wardens were often allowed to overrule the interest of the sovereigns whose property they were supposed to be protecting.'The History of Ashley, Kate Gilbert, published by Hampshire County Council, 1992,

Under the Despensers

The manor of Ashley passed in 1312 from the Briweres to the Despensers, a family in league with another unsuccessful and unpopular king,

Edward II of England Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...

Hugh Despenser the Younger Hugh le Despenser, 1st Baron le Despenser (c. 1287/1289 – 24 November 1326), also referred to as "the Younger Despenser", was the son and heir of Hugh le Despenser, Earl of Winchester (the Elder Despenser), by his wife Isabella de Beaucham ...

was an infamous favourite and counsellor of King

, after whose overthrow in 1326 he was found guilty of high treason and hanged, drawn and quartered. Despite this fall from grace, Ashley was shortly afterwards restored to the Despensers, only for history to repeat itself in 1400 when

Thomas Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester Thomas le Despenser, 2nd Baron Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester KG (22 September 137313 January 1400) was the son of Edward le Despenser, 1st Baron le Despencer, whom he succeeded in 1375. Royal intrigues A supporter of Richard II against Th ...

, a supporter of another unpopular King, Richard II of England, was beheaded for his part in the

Epiphany Rising The Epiphany Rising was a failed rebellion against King Henry IV of England in early January 1400. Background Richard II rewarded those who had supported him against Gloucester and the Lords Appellant with a plethora of new titles. Upon the us ...

against King Henry IV of England. Ashley Castle itself became a residence of the

Bishops of Winchester A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

until the middle of the 15th century. It was eventually abandoned as a residence in about the 17th century. All retrievable stone was removed and re-used elsewhere.

Form

In its earliest form, the castle was an earth and timber

ringwork A ringwork is a form of fortified defensive structure, usually circular or oval in shape. Ringworks are essentially motte-and-bailey castles without the motte. Defences were usually earthworks in the form of a ditch and bank surrounding the sit ...

fortification. The

was located on a spur of high ground and consisted of a banked rampart surrounded by a deep ditch, probably re-using the earlier Iron Age defences. A Great Hall and/or tower stood within the

. Extending westwards in a loop from the

was a second, outer bank enclosing a broadly rectangular court - the bailey - which contained all the ancillary domestic buildings associated with such a settlement. Both banks were surmounted by wooden palisades. Also located in the bailey was the parish church, St Mary's Church, Ashley, which probably dates from the same period as the original castle (early 12th century). The church survives, long outliving the castle. The visible remains of the castle now consist of sections of the ditch and ramparts. The castle is typically Norman in the small size of the occupied area and the strength of its ramparts, and in having a bailey; its north-east part contains visible remains of foundations. The site, on private land, is a scheduled monument, protected by law.