Cary Castle stood on Lodge Hill overlooking the town of Castle Cary,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England. It is a

Scheduled Ancient 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 ...

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The motte and bailey castle was built either by

Walter of Douai Walter of Douai (Old Norman: ''Wautier de Douai'') (born c.1046, died: c.1107) was a Norman knight, probably at the Battle of Hastings, and a major landowner in South West England after the Norman Conquest, being feudal baron of Bampton in Devon a ...

or by his son Robert who also built Bampton Castle in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. During The Anarchy Robert was exiled by King Stephen and the castle given to Ralph Lovel who then sided with

Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester Robert FitzRoy, 1st Earl of Gloucester (c. 1090 – 31 October 1147David Crouch, 'Robert, first earl of Gloucester (b. c. 1090, d. 1147)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200Retrieved ...

against the king. King Stephen abandoned his siege of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in 1138 and

besieged Besieged may refer to: * the state of being under siege * ''Besieged'' (film), a 1998 film by Bernardo Bertolucci {{disambiguation ...

Cary Castle with fire and showers of stones from

siege engines A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while other ...

. This lasted until the garrison surrendered due to hunger. In 1143 Stephen lost control of the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glo ...

after the

Battle of Wilton The Battle of Wilton was a battle of the civil war in England known as The Anarchy. It was fought on 1 July 1143The date is from Gervase of Canterbury (Davis, p.72n; Crouch, p.207), but Gervase only began writing his chronicle around 1188 (Da ...

. Henry de Tracy gained control of Cary Castle and built another stronghold in front of the older castle, however this was demolished when

William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester William FitzRobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester (23 November 1116 – 23 November 1183) was the son and heir of Sir Robert de Caen, 1st Earl of Gloucester, and Mabel FitzRobert of Gloucester, daughter of Robert Fitzhamon, and nephew of Empress M ...

and his troops arrived to take the castle. The Lovels later achieved the return of the castle, and their descendants were lords of the manor until the 14th century. By 1468 the castle had been abandoned. Around that time a manor house was built on or adjacent to the site of the castle, possibly by Baron Zouche. It later passed to

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (150022 January 1552) (also 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp), also known as Edward Semel, was the eldest surviving brother of Queen Jane Seymour (d. 1537), the third wife of King Henry VI ...

but by the 1630s it was occupied by Edward Kirton. It was largely demolished at the end of the 18th century. The site was excavated in 1890 and demonstrated the foundations of a 24-metre square stone keep and an inner and outer bailey. All that remains are the earthworks. Some of the castle's stonework may be seen in the town's buildings, and the Castle Cary and District Museum has a display about its history.

References

Sources

*Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, ''The David & Charles Book of Castles'', David & Charles, 1980. {{ISBN, 0-7153-7976-3 Castles in Somerset Scheduled monuments in South Somerset

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See also

References

Sources