Betchworth Castle
Betchworth Castle is a ruined castle in the north of the parish Brockham in the English county of Surrey . The former, medieval, fortified house is located on a sandstone cliff above the west bank of the Mole River . The ruin is a Scheduled Monument and English Heritage has listed it as a Grade II Historic Building.
history
middle Ages
Betchworth (or Beechworth ) Castle was the seat of the manor of West Betchworth and belonged to Richard de Tonbridge at the time of the Domesday Book . Its beginnings were earthworks that Richard FitzGilbert had built in the 11th century. In 1373 the castle was given to Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel , as a fief. His son, John FitzAlan, 1st Baron Arundel , Earl Marshall of England, converted it into a stone castle in 1379. Sir Thomas Browne, Sheriff of Kent , came to the castle by marriage . He rebuilt it in 1448 as a fortified house.
The Brownes as landowners
Sir Thomas Browne was also the Treasurer of the Household of King Henry IV.
After the Stuart restoration and enlightenment
Betchworth Castle remained in the hands of the Browne family until the death of the second and last baronet, Sir Adam Browne, in 1690. Renovations were carried out by an unknown architect in 1705 and in 1799 by the architect Sir John Soane . In 1725 Mrs. Margaret Fenwicke of Betchworth Castle bequeathed £ 200 to a trust to buy land, educate children, and marry (with a small widow's pension) maids “who were born in Betchworth and remained there for seven years”. The rest, if any, should be distributed to the poor. Martinskirche in Dorking has a plaque of Abraham Tucker , the author of A Picture of Artless Love and The Light of Nature Pursued , who lived on the Betchworth Castle estate until his death in 1774.
In the 19th century people saw little practical use for castles, and Betchworth Castle was gutted by a newer, larger house on the estate and therefore soon abandoned in the 1830s. The castle was bought by the co-heir of a banking dynasty, Harry Thomas Hope , and added to his Deepdene estate in 1834 . He had parts of the castle demolished so that the building blocks could be used for other purposes. Without a permanent tenant, the rest slowly fell into disrepair and the ruin then served as a folly .
The historian and topographer Malden wrote in 1911:
“As you can see from the print in Watson's memoir, the mansion, which replaced an earlier fortified house or castle in the mid-15th century, with its crenellated gables, groups of chimneys and bay windows, must have been extremely picturesque, as it was in the middle of the There were lawns and gardens that sloped down to the river Mole. The ivy bursts the walls and almost the only architectural detail is an arch over an open fireplace. A remarkably beautiful avenue of lime trees leads to the ruins. "
Ghosts
A black dog (dog of death) is said to appear in the castle, roaming around in the ruins at night, and the grounds of the castle (the Betchwork Park Golf Course ) are haunted by evil and inexplicable things, the existence of which can be proven with photos. The owner "Lord Hope" (a misinterpretation for either Henry Thomas Hope or his grandson Francis Pelham-Clinton-Hope, 8th Duke of Newcastle , who was forced to take over the name from his grandmother and became the landlord of Brockham (see above) and not by Deepdene) hunted and murdered a prisoner with his sword. He later found out that he had actually killed his own son. It is said that Lord Hope is now walking through the ruins in deep sorrow.
Todays use
A public footpath to the castle ruins could be created through an agreement with Betchworth Park Golf Club , but the local government has not yet done their part of the agreement. The whole ruin is surrounded by a fixed railing for safety reasons, because one feared the collapse of parts of the wall. The administration wants to limit access, but currently visitors can still get relatively close to the ruins.
future
The Mole Valley Council , who owned the ruin, sold it in 2008 for £ 1 to resident Martin Higgins who, with the help of English Heritage, the Surrey Historic Buildings Trust and Mole Valley Council, and at his own expense, made efforts to build the building structure and secure the property so that it can be made publicly available.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e H. E. Malden (editor): Parishes: Dorking . In: A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3 . Institute of Historical Research. 1911. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
- ^ History of St Michael's Church of Betchworth . St Michael's, Betchworth. ( Memento of the original from October 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
- ^ A history of Dorking and the neighboring parishes, with chapters on the literary associations, flora, fauna, geology, etc., of the district . Dorking. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
- ↑ Various Surrey Parishes: Deeds and Papers . Exploring Surrey's Past. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
- ^ Ruins of Betchworth Castle . Historic England. English Heritage. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
- ↑ a b H.E. Malden (Editor): Parishes: Betchworth . In: A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3 . Institute of Historical Research. 1911. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
- ^ Pound Purchase Means Castle is Martin's for Keeps . GetSurrey.co.uk. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
- ^ Betchworth Castle owner hoping for restoration funding . ThisIsSurreyToday.co.uk. ( Memento of the original from May 5, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
Web links
- Betchworth Castle . CastleUK.
- Betchworth Castle . Historic England - Pastscape.
- Betchworth Castle . Gatehouse Gazetteer.
Coordinates: 51 ° 14 ′ 15 " N , 0 ° 17 ′ 46.3" W.