Stogursey Castle is a medieval castle in

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Most of the site is in ruins, but there is a

thatched Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the mo ...

used for holiday rental by the

Landmark Trust The Landmark Trust is a British architectural conservation, building conservation charitable organization, charity, founded in 1965 by John Smith (Conservative politician), Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or ...

History

Stogursey Castle was built to the south of the village of Stogursey by the family of the De Courcys, probably in the late 11th or early 12th century.Pettifer, p.223;
Stogursey Castle
', the Gatehouse website, accessed 22 April 2011. The name Stogursey is a corruption of Stoke Courcy. The castle was a motte-and-bailey design with a 60 metre wide, two metre tall motte and two bailey enclosures, surrounded by a water-filled moat, fed from the nearby Stogursey Brook.
Stogursey Castle
', the Gatehouse website, accessed 22 April 2011. The castle was controlled by King

John of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Emp ...

during the

First Barons' War The First Barons' War (1215–1217) was a civil war in the Kingdom of England in which a group of rebellious major landowners (commonly referred to as barons) led by Robert Fitzwalter waged war against King John of England. The conflict resulte ...

, and was ordered to be destroyed in 1215, but survived; John's lieutenant Falkes de Bréauté took control of the castle, and after his death a second order to destroy the property was given in 1228, again apparently ignored. The castle was extended in stone in 1300 by the Fitzpayne family, and was destroyed in the 1450s by the

Yorkist The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, t ...

faction during the

War of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

, though the

Victoria County History The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...

notes that "there is no evidence, either documentary or archaeological, to support the claim for its destruction in 1457". A house was built within the castle grounds in the 17th century and was restored in the 1870s, but by the late 20th century had itself become ruined. Storgursey Castle is a

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 its gatehouse is a Grade II* listed building, restored by the Landmark Trust between 1981 and 1982 for use as a holiday let.

References

Bibliography

* ideo Tour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiZSbdbjWT4*Landmark Trust. (2006) ''The Landmark Trust Handbook.'' Maidenhead, UK: The Landmark Trust. . *Pettifer, Adrian. (2002)
English Castles: a Guide by Counties
'' Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. {{ISBN, 978-0-85115-782-5. Castles in Somerset Grade II* listed buildings in West Somerset Grade II* listed castles Ruined castles in England Scheduled monuments in Somerset

History

See also

References

Bibliography