Acton Burnell Castle
Acton Burnell Castle is a fortified manor house in the village of Acton Burnell in the English county of Shropshire . It is believed that the first English parliament in which the commoners were fully represented met here in 1283. Today only the outer walls of the manor house and the gable walls of the barn remain. English Heritage has listed the ensemble as a first-degree historic building.
First building
The mansion was 1284 Robert Burnell , Bishop of Bath and Wells , a friend and adviser of King Edward I , build. Its location near Roman Watling Street was important at the time. The size of the property is unknown as the building was completely destroyed and remains have not yet been discovered. It will have been enough to accommodate King Edward I and his followers, soldiers and advisers, but it was never a real castle.
On January 28, 1284, Robert Burnell received royal permission to fortify his mansion (English: "License to crenellate"), which only reliable people could achieve. The building was rectangular with a tower on every corner. It was three stories high and contained a knight's hall , a solar , sleeping quarters, writing rooms, a chapel and kitchens. Robert Burnell also had the nearby St. Mary's Church and the surrounding village built.
The year before, in the fall of 1283, Edward I had held a parliamentary meeting in Acton Burnell, presumably in the adjoining large barn, the only building of sufficient size. This meeting is of great importance to English history because it was the first time that commoners were involved in the legislative process in England. The law passed there became known as the Statute of Acton Burnell and gave lenders protection, which indicates the growing importance of commerce at the time.
Other owners
When Robert Burnell died in 1292, the property was inherited by his family and thus came through a marriage to the Lovel family from Titchmarsh . After the Battle of Stoke in 1487, King Henry VII confiscated the land and gave it to Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk . In the middle of the 17th century it fell to the Smythe family , but by then the house was largely destroyed. Today Acton Burnell Castle is managed by English Heritage. Only the outer walls of the former house are accessible to the public, accessible via a footpath through a small forest.
Acton Burnell Hall
The Smythe family had a country house built near the castle in 1814 . It is of a classicist style and as a historical building II *. Grade listed. The country house is surrounded by parkland that includes two man-made lakes and a Gothic folly called Sham Castle . This folly has round towers and pointed arched windows , stands on a hill surrounded by trees and was built in 1780. Joseph Bromfield built it for Edward Smythe and the family used it as a music room.
Acton Burnell Castle served as another folly in the park. Large entrance gates were struck through the private houses. A pyramid-shaped roof was attached to a tower so that it could be used as a dovecote .
Monks from St. Gregory Monastery, Donai , sought refuge with Edward Smythe, the 5th Baronet, until his death, after which they moved to Downside in Somerset in 1814.
The relatively modern country house and its surroundings now belong to the private Concord College . The gable walls of the large barn in which parliament met have been preserved to this day and are on private property.
Individual evidence
- ^ Images of England: Acton Burnell Castle . English Heritage. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 28, 2007.
- ↑ a b c d e Acton Burnell Castle . Virtual Shropshire. Archived from the original on November 30, 2007. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ^ Statute of Acton Burnell . Farlex. Retrieved February 7, 2008.
- ^ A b Images of England: Acton Burnell Hall . English Heritage. Archived from the original on November 24, 2015. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ↑ World's most covetable castles for sale . In: Daily Telegraph . Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ^ Concord College . Concord College. Archived from the original on December 1, 2007. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
Web links
- Acton Burnell Castle . The Castles of Wales. Archived from the original on November 21, 2007. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- Acton Burnell Castle . Historic England.
- Acton Burnell Castle . English Heritage.
Coordinates: 52 ° 36 ′ 47.9 " N , 2 ° 41 ′ 20" W.