Woodcroft Castle is a moated medieval castle in the parish of Etton,

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

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 ...

History

Woodcroft Castle was built at the end of the 13th century near the city of

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

in the

Soke of Peterborough The Soke of Peterborough is a historic area of England associated with the City and Diocese of Peterborough, but considered part of Northamptonshire. The Soke was also described as the Liberty of Peterborough, or Nassaburgh hundred, and comp ...

(now in Cambridgeshire). The medieval portions of the castle today include the front range, the circular tower, and the

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 ...

. There is debate as to whether the castle originally followed a normal

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

quadrilateral design, of which most has since been lost, or if it was simply never fully completed. Early Tudor additions (late 1400s) retained these medieval elements into the current design. Woodcroft Castle was briefly held by the

Royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

during the

Second English Civil War The Second English Civil War took place between February to August 1648 in Kingdom of England, England and Wales. It forms part of the series of conflicts known collectively as the 1639-1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which include the 1641� ...

and was successfully attacked and taken by Parliamentary forces in June 1648. Dr Michael Hudson, commander of the Royalist forces had attempted to raise forces for the King in Stamford, but was cornered by Parliamentarian forces under Colonel Thomas Waite and took refuge in the castle, which belonged to William FitzWilliam, 2nd Baron FitzWilliam, a Parliamentarian supporter. The siege lasted less than 48 hours, and ended with the death of Hudson, when he refused to surrender the building, and again refused to surrender when trapped at the top of the main tower. The castle is a

Grade II* 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 Ir ...

and the 18th-century barn and stable range is Grade II. Today, the castle is a private dwelling.

References

Bibliography

*Pettifer, Adrian. (2002)
English Castles: a Guide by Counties
'' Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. {{ISBN, 978-0-85115-782-5. Castles in Cambridgeshire Grade II* listed buildings in Cambridgeshire Grade II* listed castles Buildings and structures in Peterborough

History

See also

References

Bibliography