![Rayleigh Castle - Top of the motte - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Rayleigh_Castle_-_Top_of_the_motte_-_geograph.org.uk_-_211114.jpg)
Rayleigh Castle (also known as Rayleigh Mount) was a masonry and timber
castle built in the town of
Rayleigh in
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
, England in the 11th century shortly after the
Norman conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...
. All that exists today are the
earthwork remains of its large
motte-and-bailey.
History
Rayleigh is one of 48 castles mentioned in the
Domesday Survey
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086 and the only one in the county of Essex. The Survey records that Swein (other spellings are Sweyn, Sweyne, and Suen) built the castle in his manor. He was the son of
Robert FitzWimarc
Robert fitz Wimarc (died before 1075, Theydon Mount, Ongar, Essex) was a kinsman of both Edward the Confessor and William of Normandy, and was present at Edward's death bed.
Nothing of his background is known except his kinship to the English ...
, a Norman lord and favourite of
Edward the Confessor (r. 1042–1066). Swein was one of the wealthiest landowners in post-Conquest Essex, and the Survey records that in 1086 his lands were worth £255. As Swein was the son of a favourite of Edward it is likely that he did not arrive with
William the Conqueror
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 House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
in 1066, but was instead born in England. Most land owners with significant holdings at the time of the Domesday Survey had disjointed, scattered properties; however, Swein was one of the exceptions and most of his land was within the
hundreds of
Rochford and
Barstable with Rayleigh Castle as the administrative centre.
Adrian Pettifer notes that Rayleigh's plan is similar to that of two other motte-and-bailey castles in Essex:
Pleshey
Pleshey is a historic village and civil parish in the Chelmsford district, in the county of Essex, England, north-west of Chelmsford. The Normans built a motte and bailey in the late 11th century; the motte is one of the largest of its kind in ...
and
Ongar.
On Swein's death the castle passed to his son Robert of Essex (c. 1085 - died before 1159) and thence to his grandson
Henry of Essex
Henry of Essex or Henry de Essex (died c. 1170) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman who was feudal baron of Rayleigh in Essex (by inheritance) and of Haughley in Suffolk (by right of his second wife). He served as one of the royal constables during the ...
. Around 1140 the motte was covered in stone rubble.
Henry was accused of cowardice in battle in 1163 and subject to a
trial by combat
Trial by combat (also wager of battle, trial by battle or judicial duel) was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the ...
, which he lost. The castle and its estates were confiscated to become the property of the king,
Henry II. Extensive alterations were made to it in 1172 and in 1183-4. The property given by
King John to
Hubert de Burgh
Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent (; ; ; c.1170 – before 5 May 1243) was an English nobleman who served as Chief Justiciar of England and Ireland during the reigns of King John and of his son and successor King Henry III and, as a consequenc ...
in around 1200 who probably used it as a source of building materials for the castle which he started building in 1230 about away at
Hadleigh.
On the death of Hubert's son in the latter half of the 13th century, ownership of the castle reverted to the Crown. Documents dating between 1279 and 1303 refer to the motte being used for pasture, which probably means that the castle was no longer used as a fortification. In 1394
King Richard II
Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father d ...
gave permission for the townspeople of Rayleigh to use the foundations of the castle as a source of stone. Since the foundations are explicitly mentioned in the document giving permission, it is unlikely that any other masonry structures remained by then.
21st century
The site of the castle was used for grazing sheep after it fell into disuse. Photos taken in the 1920s show the mount free from any large trees or shrubs as the grazing prevented their growth; however since the grazing stopped, large trees have grown on the site. The
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
who manage the site have no plans to remove the trees for fear of disturbing any potential archaeology below.
The
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
Convoy rescue ship
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
was originally laid down as a to have been named after the ruins.
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 1050 ...
*
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 li ...
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
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External links
Bibliography of sources relating to Rayleigh CastleNational Trust guide to Rayleigh Mount
{{coord, 51.588, 0.6045, type:landmark_region:GB-ESS, display=title
Castles in Essex
National Trust properties in Essex
Castle
Buildings and structures completed in the 11th century