Bolingbroke Castle is a ruined castle in
Bolingbroke (now Old Bolingbroke) in
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershir ...
, England.
Construction
Most of the castle is built of
Spilsby
Spilsby is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The town is adjacent to the main A16, east of the county town of Lincoln, north-east of Boston and north-west of Skegness. ...
greenstone, as are several nearby churches. The local greenstone is a limestone that proved to be porous, prone to rapid deterioration when exposed to weather and a substandard building material. The castle was constructed as an irregular polygonal enclosure. The castle is one of the earliest examples of a uniform castle designed and built without a
keep
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...
. It was originally surrounded by a large water-filled
moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
wide. The
curtain wall was up to feet thick and defended by five D-shaped towers and a twin-towered gate house.
Similar to another castle built by Ranulf during the same period at
Beeston in Cheshire, Bolingbroke had no inner defensive keep. The castle relied instead on thick walls and the five D shaped defensive corner towers. Some design similarities are noted with the contemporary castle at
Boulogne-sur-Mer
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the Cà ...
, France that was also constructed without a
central donjon.
History
The area was first fortified by the Saxons in the 6th or 7th century. In the 12th century the
Normans built a
Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...
on a nearby hill above the settlement of Bolingbroke.
The present structure was founded by
Ranulf, Earl of Chester, in 1220 shortly after he returned from the
Fifth Crusade
The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by al-Adil, brother of Sala ...
.
Ranulf died in 1232 without a male heir, and his titles, lands and castles passed to his sisters. Following the death of
Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster
Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster (– 23 March 1361) was an English statesman, diplomat, soldier, and Christian writer. The owner of Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, Grosmont was a member of the House of Plantagenet, which was ruling ...
in 1361 Bolingbroke passed through marriage into the ownership of
John of Gaunt. His wife
Blanche of Lancaster, daughter of Henry of Grosmont, was born at the castle in 1342. John and Blanche's son,
Henry (the future Henry IV), was also born at Bolingbroke Castle in 1367 and consequently was known as "Henry Bolingbroke" before he became king in 1399.
[Brown & Summerson (2004)][
By the 15th and 16th century, the castle had fallen into disrepair although repairs were carried out during the ]Tudor period
The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began with t ...
. In 1636 a survey found that all of the towers were effectively beyond repair.
At the start of the First English Civil War
The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They include the Bishops' Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Second English Civil War, the A ...
, Bolingbroke was again put to use as a military fortification garrisoned by Royalist forces. In 1643 it was badly damaged in a siege during the Battle of Winceby. The following year, the castle was recaptured from the Parliamentarians but due to defeats elsewhere was relinquished again. In 1652 the 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 ...
to prevent any further use. The towers and walls were torn down and dumped into the moat.
The last major structure collapsed in 1815.
Present day
The castle, which is now a national monument, was excavated in the 1960s and 1970s. It was maintained by English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
until 1995 when Heritage Lincolnshire took charge. Much of the lower walls are still visible as are the ground floors of the towers.
In the summertime, the castle is home to numerous events including performances of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
.
See also
* Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
Castles have played an important military, economic and social role in Great Britain and Ireland since their introduction following the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Although a small number of castles had been built in England in the 105 ...
* List of castles in England
This list of castles in England is not a list of every building and site that has "castle" as part of its name, nor does it list only buildings that conform to a strict definition of a castle as a medieval fortified residence. It is not a lis ...
References
Sources
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External links
Friends of Bolingbroke Castle
Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire: Bolingbroke Castle
*
{{Duchy of Lancaster
Castles in Lincolnshire
Tourist attractions in Lincolnshire
English Heritage sites in Lincolnshire
Ruins in Lincolnshire
Grade I listed castles
Grade I listed buildings in Lincolnshire
Ruined castles in England
Grade I listed ruins
Buildings and structures demolished in the 17th century