Allington Castle
Allington Castle is a castle in the village of Allington , just north of Maidstone in the English county of Kent . The first castle on this site was an unauthorized fortress built during the anarchy in the early 12th century and demolished later in the same century when royal control was re-established. It was replaced by a manor house , which was then fortified with royal permission in the 13th century. Various changes and extensions by later owners were carried out in the following two centuries. The property was expanded into a fortress with six towers that are lined up at irregular intervals along a curtain wall. Inside are the residential buildings, including one of the first galleries in England. In 1554 the property was taken by the Crown as part of the expropriation of the then owner, Thomas Wyatt the Younger . The reason was his failed conspiracy against Queen Maria .
The castle then fell into disrepair. The decline was hastened by fire, neglect and vandalism and by the beginning of the it was largely in ruins. It was saved and restored in the first half of the 20th century through the efforts of Sir Martin Conway and his wife. After almost half a century of occupation by the Carmelite brothers and sisters , Allington Castle became a private residence again in 1999, where Sir Robert Worcester , founder of the market research company Ipsos MORI , currently lives. English Heritage has listed it as a Grade I Historic Building. Wedding celebrations take place there, but otherwise the castle is not open to the public.
history
12th to 15th centuries
The first castle was built by William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey , during the reign of King Stephen in the first half of the 12th century. It was in the shape of a moat (possibly a moth ) and was erected on land at a bend in the River Medway , about 1 mile north of Maidstone. The fortress was expanded afterwards, but since it was an unauthorized fortress, its demolition was ordered in 1174, during the reign of King Henry II . A small, unpaved mansion was built in their place.
The current castle was built between 1279 and 1299 for Stephen de Penchester , Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports , who had received royal permission from Edward I to fortify his house (English: "License to crenellate"). After Penchester's death, his daughter, who was married in the Cobham family, inherited the castle, which remained in the family until 1492. The extension of the building was continued in the 13th century by Sir Henry de Cobham , who had the remains of the old manor house integrated into the new castle. Although the building was fortified, it served more as a residence than a fortress, which was evident from the generous - and early - use of brickwork . This may have reflected Stephen's interest in Essex . Then the castle was neglected; in 1398 and 1399 they describe documents as in very poor condition.
Lease by the Wyatts
Allington Castle was acquired in 1492 by Sir Henry Wyatt , a prominent supporter of Henry Tudor (later King Henry VII ). He had major modifications carried out, e.g. For example, a two-story building - probably one of the first galleries in England - divides the courtyard into two unequal parts. He also had a semi-wooden block attached to the curtain wall, which served as a kitchen and stables. Henry VII visited the castle during Wyatt's lease. King Henry VIII was also visiting in 1527, 1530 and 1536, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in 1527 and Catherine Parr in 1544. Henry VIII is said to have been so concerned for his safety that he, when he stayed in the northeast tower every night , had the only access to his bedchamber, a spiral staircase, cordoned off by a dry stone wall.
Henry Wyatt's son, Thomas Wyatt the Elder , was born at Allington Castle in 1503, but in 1554 his son, Thomas Wyatt the Younger , forfeited the castle through his unsuccessful rebellion against Queen Mary. The traitors held their first meeting at the castle before their march on London. After the rebellion was put down, many of the unsuccessful rebels were imprisoned in the castle. Sir Thomas Wyatt was executed and the remainder of their extensive possessions taken from the Wyatt family. The remaining family members emigrated to America.
Decay
Queen Elizabeth I gave the castle and manor to her “Master of the Jewel Office”, John Astley , even if he did not live there. Two farmhouses were built on the Allington Castle estate around 1600 while the castle itself was slowly deteriorating.
Most of the great hall and the north-east wing fell victim to a fire in the second half of the 16th century. At the beginning of the 17th century, a tenant named John Best had the battlements torn down and a second floor, half made of wood and with gables, built on the east and west wings to replace the parts of the castle damaged by the fire. The bests were Catholics and used a room in the east tower as a private chapel. Today there is still a priest's hole in the loggia of the gatehouse , a sign of the persecution that Catholics were exposed to at the time.
In 1720 Sir Robert Marsham, 2nd Baron Romney , a descendant of the Wyatts, bought Allington Castle, but did not live there and let it continue to deteriorate. Its decaying appearance was recorded in 1798 by William Turner in sketches and watercolors.
The upper part of the gallery was destroyed by another fire in the early 19th century and the rest of the castle was almost demolished by Charles Marsham, 5th Earl of Romney . He allowed himself to be dissuaded from his plan by the resistance of local residents, especially the rector of the nearby Lorenz Church, but by then the castle was already completely ruined. The Penchester Wing was abandoned and served as a quarry for building materials, while the remaining ground floor of the gallery was converted into two farmhouses.
restoration
In 1895 a retired London barrister named Dudley C. Falke rented the castle from Lord Romney and began the lengthy task of restoring it. But that turned out to be too expensive for his standards. In 1905 he turned to the excellent mountaineer and cartographer Sir William Martin Conway (later Lord Conway), from whom he had heard that he wanted to buy an old castle or mansion. Conway had placed an ad in the Times stating that he "wanted to buy an old mansion or abbey from the 16th century or earlier." The castle made a great impression on Conway and his American wife Katrina when they first saw it:
“None of us will ever forget the wonderful morning in June when we set out to visit this fairytale castle on our way to Brighton . (...) No sign of any castle could be seen (although we were obviously close to Medway) until we turned the corner and it was right in front of us. Its walls and the five visible towers were overgrown with ivy. Most of the moat was filled in, but its reflection could be seen in the calm countenance of the remaining fragments. (...) The beauty of it all was delightful. It took our breath away and for a moment we were speechless. Then we both gasped: "Of course we have to have them!" "
Conway decided to buy the property from Lord Romney for £ 4,800 and spent the next 30 years restoring the castle with the help of architects WD Caroe and Philip Tilden . He was able to do so because he and his wife were rich and his efforts were also supported by his wife's stepfather, a wealthy businessman named Manton Marble . Corbens , a local construction company, was hired to carry out the work and was able to provide traditional craftsmen to carry out the restoration in an architecturally and historically appropriate style. Conway himself and his daughter Agnes , an archaeologist, studied the history of the castle in depth.
Most of the restoration was completed by the beginning of the First World War in 1914. Gatehouse and Penchester Wing have been fully restored and most of the old keep has also been completed. The gallery was rebuilt and connected to the Tudor house in the castle walls. An old pigeon house on the property has been restored and used as a study for Agnes Conway. After the war, Conway set about clearing the castle grounds of the collection of dilapidated farm buildings that had accumulated just outside the castle walls over the centuries. They have been replaced by poplar groves and gardens designed by Philip Tilden. The knight's hall was rebuilt in 1927 and the restoration of the northeast wing was completed in 1932.
Lord Conway died in 1937 and his daughter Agnes inherited Allington Castle. At that time the restoration work had been stopped due to lack of money and the castle was leased to the politician and architect Alfred Bossom from 1936 to 1946 . Agnes Conway then returned to the castle with her husband, "George Horsfield". After Agnes 'death in 1950, her widower sold the castle to the Carmelite Order of nearby Aylesford Priory for £ 15,000, and it became the Carmelite Brothers' home from March 1951. There was some historical irony in this, since when Henry VIII dissolved the English monasteries, the Wyatts had received Aylesford Priory and the residents lost their property. Now things were going the other way around.
The castle was administered from 1951 to 1958 by the Institute of Our Lady of Mount Carmel , which carried out an extensive program of repairs and restorations. It then became an ecumenical work center operated by the Aylesford monastic community. Further restorations were carried out to create living space and other facilities for the residents. In September 1972, Allington Castle became an independent priory. The brothers did not leave the castle until 1999. Today it is the home of Sir Robert Worcester , the founder of the market research company Ipsos MORI . The castle is not open to the public, but can be rented out for wedding parties. Allington Castle has been a First Degree Historic Building since 1951.
architecture
Allington Castle is shaped like an irregular parallelogram with a curtain wall with six round towers of different sizes. A gatehouse with the built-in remains of the original mansion stands on the northwest side. The largest and most important of the towers, the four-story Salomon's Tower , protrudes from the southwest side of the curtain wall. Exactly to the north, next to the western part of the curtain wall, are the Penchester apartments, one of two wings of early buildings that have survived to this day and which could contain the remains of the former manor house. The banquet room and main chambers were on the east curtain wall. This part of the castle has been largely restored, only the 15th century porch is an original.
The interior of the castle was once a single, large, open space, but is now divided into a larger, outer courtyard and a smaller, inner courtyard. The latter was once occupied by buildings on the southern curtain wall and was probably the location of the first castle on this property, as far as this can be seen from the remains of the foundations that were discovered during Conway's restoration work. The wing of the building that divides the two courtyards consists of the gallery on the upper floor and offices below. The kitchens and a drinks store were housed in the buildings in the southeast corner, as well as rooms above. The moat was once flooded and a drawbridge spanned it at the entrance to the castle. It was equipped with a portcullis . The ruin of the barbican can be seen on the outside of the moat. Some distance from the southwest side of the castle is a lower mound . Nothing more is left of the 12th century moth.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Pastscape - Allington Castle . English Heritage. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- ^ Roy D. Ingleton: Fortress Kent . Casemate Publishers. 2012. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- ↑ a b c d Adrian Pettifer: English Castles: A Guide by Counties . Boydell & Brewer. Pp. 110-111. 2002. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- ^ A b c Roy D. Ingleton: Fortress Kent . Casemate Publishers. 2012. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- ^ Roy D. Ingleton: Fortress Kent . Casemate Publishers. 2012. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- ^ A b c Andrew Saunders, Victor Smith: Kent's Defense Heritage - Gazetteer Part One . Chapter: KD 75 - Allington Castle . Kent County Council, Canterbury 2001.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Roy D. Ingleton: Fortress Kent . Casemate Publishers. 2012. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- ^ A b Institute of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Allington Castle . British Legion Press, Maidstone, 1950s. P. 7.
- ^ A b Institute of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Allington Castle . British Legion Press, Maidstone, 1950s. P. 8.
- ↑ Allington Castle sketches . Tate Gallery. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- ↑ a b c d e f Wilfred McGreal: An Introduction to Allington Castle . Carmelite Press, Faversham 1970s.
- ^ Roy D. Ingleton: Fortress Kent . Casemate Publishers. 2012. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- ^ Allington Castle . Historic Houses Association. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
- ^ Allington Castle . Historic England. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 17 ′ 36 " N , 0 ° 30 ′ 42.1" E