Starborough Castle, known historically as Sterborough Castle, is a

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

garden house of dressed

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

near the eastern boundary of

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, built in 1754 by Sir James Burrow. It occupies the north-eastern portion of an artificial island south of the River Eden, roughly to the south-west of Edenbridge. It is a

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed building and

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

, and was built on the site of the first castle, a medieval fortified house built c. 1341.

History

The first Starborough Castle was the manor house of

Reginald de Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham Reynold Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham of Sterborough, Order of the Garter, KG (c.1295–1361) was a medieval English knight and diplomat. Life He was the son of Sir Reynold Cobham by Joan, the daughter and heir of William de Evere. This Reynold was ...

, and 1st Lord Cobham of Sterborough. On 18 October 1341 Cobham was granted licence by

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

to crenelate the building, and the following year the building was fortified and became Starborough Castle. The castle was of a similar quadrangular style to

Bodiam Castle Bodiam Castle () is a 14th-century moated castle near Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II, ostensibly to defend the area agai ...

, consisting of four towers and a gate, surrounded on all sides by a moat, with a central bridge crossing at the south. After the

Battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; french: Azincourt ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected English victory against the numerica ...

in 1415, the

Duke of Orleans Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

was for a time held captive in the castle. The castle passed to Edward Burgh through his c. 1476 marriage to Anne Cobham, daughter of Sir

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

, ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'' 5th Baron Cobham of Sterborough. Starborough Castle

On 4 July 1648 the castle was ordered to be dismantled by Order of Parliament under the rule of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

. It was feared the castle would provide a base for Royalist Rebellion forces. Only the moat survives, although parts of the original castle were used to build the present building on the north-east corner of the site. In the 1700s the site became part of a country garden, before Sir James Burrow constructed the neo-Gothic garden house on the moated island in 1754. He also built a manor house, now known as Starborough Castle, on the site, this was demolished and replaced by a new house near the lake, designed by John Tonge, around 1870. In 1793 the castle was sold to Sir Thomas Turton who carried out work clearing the moat and improving the water supply. He sold the castle to William Bruce Smith in 1812. Later owners were James Moore in 1870 and R V Toynbee, who acquired the, by now, ruined, site in 1933. Ray Edwards, a local farmer and builder, acquired the site in the 1970s and restored the Gothic pavilion before selling it to London gallery owner, Warwick Leadlay. Under Leadlay outbuildings were added, with the site being used for an annual jazz festival. Leadlay placed the castle for sale in 2003.

References

External links

Official website

Listing in the British Listed Buildings Register
* {{PastScape, mnumber=407279 , mname= Castles in Surrey Gothic Revival architecture in Surrey Grade II* listed buildings in Surrey Scheduled monuments in Surrey Buildings and structures in Surrey

History

See also

References

External links