Ashley Castle

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Ashley Castle estate

Coordinates: 51 ° 4 ′ 30.9 ″  N , 1 ° 27 ′ 6.6 ″  W.

Ashley Castle (also Gains Castle ) is a ruined castle in the village of Ashley in the English county of Hampshire .

The castle was built in 1138 on the site of an earlier Iron Age fort . The higher ground was believed to be of strategic importance as it also had a well and was close to the Roman road from Winchester to Sarum . The mighty Henry of Blois , grandson of William the Conqueror and younger brother of King Stephen , Bishop of Winchester and builder of many castles (e.g. Wolvesey Castle in Winchester), had the castle built. It originated during anarchy , a prolonged period of unrest and civil war. In 1155, after King Henry II took office , the castle was razed under unknown circumstances .

Almost fifty years later, during the reign of Henry II's son, Johann Ohneland , William Brewer had the castle rebuilt. He held the manor of Ashley, was the leading advisor to King John (and later to King Henry III ) and later founded the nearby Mottisfont Priory , an Augustinian monastery . In 1200 King John Brewer gave permission to fortify a castle ("License to crenellate"), either Stockbridge or Ashley, and Brewer chose Ashley (referred to as "Esleg" in the permit). In an age when the crown saw every castle of the high nobility as a possible retreat for rebels, permission to fortify it was a rare privilege. King John is said to have been a frequent guest at Ashley Castle, presumably as part of hunting trips into the royal Forest of Bere , a forest whose western border was then the nearby test . Official official acts of the crown were carried out from the castle. B. a number of royal letters with the location "Ashley". Ashley was the administrative center of West Bere, an area that stretched from the Itchen River to the Test River. The chief had his manor there and lived in the castle when he was in the area (Brewer owned other estates as well). Many English forests had their headquarters in such castles. The castles were not only used as a place of residence, but requests were also heard there, poachers were imprisoned there and forest officials housed. In addition to its role as the administrative center for the crown land, Ashley Castle seems to have always been viewed as part of the Ashley manorial rule rather than as the property of the crown. The interests of the ruler were often put above the interests of the sovereign, whose lands were supposed to be protected.

Later, in the mid-15th century, Ashley Castle served as the residence of the Bishop of Winchester. The castle was then abandoned around the 17th century.

In its earliest form, the castle consisted of a circular area which was enclosed by a rampart and a deep moat and contained a wooden tower. A second, similar wall started from this wall and enclosed a courtyard in a loop - containing the outer bailey , the houses and the parish church. The latter was probably older than the castle. Wooden palisades were built on both walls .

The complex is typically Norman with its small size and the strength of its fortifications. The existence of a bailey is also typical. Its north-eastern part contains remains of foundations that are still visible today.

The complex is now a Scheduled Monument .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Philip Davis: Gains Castle, Ashley . In: Gatehouse Gazetteer . Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  2. ↑ a b Parishes: Ashley . In: BritishHistory.ac.uk . Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  3. ^ The Gatehouse website record of a license to crenellate for Gains Castle, Ashley granted on 1200 June 6 . In: Gatehouse Gazetteer . Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ Cal. Red. Chart. (Rec. Com.), I, 70.
  5. ^ Johann Ohneland's Itin. Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), I
  6. ↑ a b Kate Gilbert: The History of Ashley . Hampshire County Council, 1992. ISBN 1-873595-25-5 .
  7. ^ BBC News
  8. ↑ Ashley Castle . ecastles. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  9. ^ Williams-Freeman (1913)
  10. ^ Gains Castle: a 13th century ringwork and bailey . Historic England. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  11. ^ Gains Castle: a 13th century ringwork and bailey . Defra.gov.uk. Retrieved November 27, 2015.

literature

  • Plantagenet Somerset Fry: The David & Charles Book of Castles . David & Charles, Newton Abbot 1980. ISBN 0-7153-7976-3 . P. 180.