Stowey Castle (or Nether Stowey Castle known locally as The Mount) was a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

motte-and-bailey castle, built in the 11th century, in the village of

Nether Stowey Nether Stowey is a large village in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, South West England. It sits in the foothills of the Quantock Hills (England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), just below Over Stowey. The parish of Nether Stowey ...

on the

Quantock Hills The Quantock Hills west of Bridgwater in Somerset, England, consist of heathland, oak woodlands, ancient parklands and agricultural land. They were England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, designated in 1956. Natural England have desi ...

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 has been designated as 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 ...

, the foundations of the keep are also a Grade I

listed building 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 ...

Details

The Castle is sited on a small isolated knoll of Leighland Slates of the Devonian series, about high. It consisted of a square keep, (which may have been stone, or a wooden superstructure on stone foundations) and its defences, and an outer and an inner bailey. The mount is above the wide ditch which itself is deep. The motte has a flat top. Central area occupied by approximately square foundations by with internal divisions.

Alfred of Spain Alfred of Spain was a Norman lord recorded in the Domesday Book. He held land mainly in Somerset but also in Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. He was not from Spain but from Épaignes Épaignes () is a commune in the ...

is the Norman Lord of Stowey recorded in Domesday and the building of the castle is normally attributed to him or to his daughter Isabel. The earliest written reference to the castle is in a forged charter of 1154. The top of the motte was excavated by amateurs in the 19th century but no record was made of any finds. The mounds around the top of the motte are assumed to be spoil heaps from these excavations to clear the foundations of the keep, although it has also been suggested that they may be the remains of towers. The blue

lias Lias may refer to: Geology * Lias Formation, a geologic formation in France *Lias Group, a lithostratigraphic unit in western Europe * Early Jurassic, an epoch People * Godfrey Lias, British author * Mohd Shamsudin Lias (born 1953), Malaysian ...

rubble foundations are the only visible structural remains of the castle which stood on the conical motte surrounded by a ditch approximately in circumference. The castle was destroyed in the 15th century, which may have been as a penalty for the local Lord Audley's involvement in the

Second Cornish Uprising of 1497 The Second Cornish uprising occurred in September 1497 when the pretender to the throne Perkin Warbeck landed at Whitesand Bay, near Land's End, on 7 September with just 120 men in two ships. Warbeck had seen the potential of the Cornish unrest ...

led by Perkin Warbeck. Some of the stone was used in the building of Stowey Court in the village.

References

{{reflist Castles in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in Sedgemoor Scheduled monuments in Sedgemoor

Details

See also

References