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

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively eas ...

castle, built in the 11th century, in the village 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 Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, 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, visu ...

, the foundations of the keep are also a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Details

The Castle is sited on a small isolated knoll of Leighland Slates of the

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

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. The central area is occupied by approximately square foundations by , with internal divisions. Alfred of Spain (who was actually from

Épaignes Épaignes () is a commune in the Eure department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Eure department The following is a list of the 585 communes of the Eure department of France France, officially the French ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

) is the Norman Lord of Stowey as recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086; 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 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 led by

Perkin Warbeck Perkin Warbeck ( – 23 November 1499) was a pretender to the English throne claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the second son of Edward IV and one of the so-called "Princes in the Tower". Richard, were he alive, would ...

. 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