Clare Castle

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Mound of Clare Castle

Clare Castle is a ruined castle in the small town of Clare in the English county of Suffolk . The moth was Richard FitzGilbert shortly after the Norman conquest of England build; later it was rebuilt in an improved, stone construction. Elizabeth de Clare , then one of the richest women in England, lived there in the 14th century and kept a large household in the castle. Then Clare Castle fell to the crown and by the 16th century it was already in ruins. In 1867 the Great Eastern Railway was built through the castle grounds, further damaging it. The remains of the castle are now part of the city park and are considered a Scheduled Monument . English Heritage has it as Building II *. Grade listed.

history

11th to 13th centuries

Soon after the Norman conquest of England, Richard FitzGilbert was made a baron by William the Conqueror . He received two lands as fiefs, first in Kent and later in Suffolk and Essex . FitzGilbert had two new castles built to defend his new lands: Tonbridge Castle in Kent and then Clare Castle in Suffolk. The exact date of completion is not known, the first written mention of Clare Castle is from 1090. In the 11th century Suffolk was one of the fastest growing parts of the country.

Tithing plan of Clare Castle 1846: A - Mound and Donjon; B - inner castle; C - outer bailey; D - location of the former water gardens; E - "New Cut" ( River Stour )

Clare Castle was built between the River Stour and the Chilton Stream as a motte with a core and outer bailey. The mound has a diameter of 259 meters at its base and is 30 meters high. At the top it has a diameter of 19 meters. The two courtyards north and east of the mound were protected by deep trenches and steep palisades ; a dam or a drawbridge connected the core and outer bailey; the inner castle was additionally protected by a bend in the Chilton Stream.

The castle was built on the site of an earlier Anglo-Saxon mansion , presumably to show that the Norman power had replaced that of the previous masters. Castles like this were called Caput and, as the historian Robert Liddiard describes, “they represented and reflected the rank and dignity of the lord in addition to their defensive duties”. The castle was surrounded by three medieval deer parks, including the Great Park at Hundon , which was created in 1090. Like many other larger castles, Clare Castle was associated with a local religious house: Richard de Clare founded Clare Priory in 1249 and it grew and eventually housed 29 friars .

A new donjon was built, probably in the 13th century. This was polygonal with fourteen triangular buttresses that supported 1.8 meter thick walls. The core castle was reinforced with 6–9 meter high stone walls on previous earth walls; Walls and keep were built from flint and rubble. During this time, the castle was manned according to the Castle Guard system , with land being given to local feudal people who, in return, had to provide knights and soldiers to protect the castle.

14th Century

Clare Castle mid 19th century

In the early 14th century, before the outbreak of the plague , the settlement of Clare had a population of 600. The De Clares continued to own lands across England, but in Suffolk their holdings were concentrated around Clare Castle. The castle was inherited in the male line of the De Clare family until Gilbert de Clare fell at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 and the property fell to his sisters. Elizabeth de Clare , whose husband John de Burgh had died the year before, received the castle; together with the lands inherited from her husband, this made her one of the richest women in England. Elizabeth de Clare used Clare Castle 1322-1360 as her main residence.

The castle was well developed then. They could be entered through three gates in the further property called Nethergate , Redgate and Dernegate . The castle itself had four stone towers that guarded the entrance to the main castle and the donjon; they were called Auditorstower , Maidenstower , Constabletower and Oxfordtower . Elizabeth de Clare had a bedroom built for herself from 1346-1347. A large water garden, which formed part of the moat in the east, existed at the castle at this time; it may have had a fountain and was probably geometrical in shape, possibly similar to the garden at nearby St Benet's Abbey in Norfolk . Vineyards and orchards surrounded the property. The castle's three deer parks were well used, and as part of the local breeding program, the deer were herded back and forth between them as they got older.

The castle and estate supported a luxurious, affluent lifestyle for their owners - Elizabeth de Clare had an annual income of around £ 3,500, most of which was used to run her household at Clare Castle. It took over £ 1750 for food and drink, including luxury items like swans , salmon and German wine . Some goods could be bought locally; others, such as furs, spices, clothing and wine, were imported for the castle from international fairs held in Bury St Edmunds , Colchester , Ipswich , London , King's Lynn and Stourbridge . Clare Castle's staff included falconers, tailors, chaplains and goldsmiths, supported where necessary by 30 knights and squires. The castle's bakers were able to make 2,360 loaves of bread in a day, and an average of 41 hectoliters of beer was brewed every five days.

15th to 21st century

Photo of Clare Castle from the south in 1860, shortly before the inner castle was destroyed by the construction of the Great Eastern Railway

After Elizabeth de Clare's death, the castle fell to the Mortimer family of Wigmore by marriage . When Sir Edmund Mortimer received the castle in 1405, his contemporaries described it as “in good condition and well equipped.” In the years that followed, the Mortimers were heavily involved in the Wars of the Roses ; after Edmund Mortimer's death in 1425, the castle fell to Richard of York and then subsequently, through his son, King Edward IV , to the crown.

The castle fell into disrepair during this time. The masonry was probably removed as building material, as there have always been few suitable building blocks in this part of England. King Edward VI. gave the castle as a fief to Sir John Checke until it fell back to Queen Maria I. After Queen Maria the castle was given to Sir Gervase Elwes , whose family kept it until the 19th century. Sometime after 1720 the eastern and southern parts of the inner castle wall that had been preserved until then were destroyed.

In 1867 the branch line of the Great Eastern Railway to Cambridge and Colchester was built through the castle grounds, running right through the inner castle, so that it was largely destroyed to make way for a new station. The branch line was closed in 1967 as part of the Beeching Ax .

The castle ruins today consist of a mound, on which part of the donjon still stands, and earthworks in the outer bailey; Fragments of the stone wall of the inner castle can also still be seen. The abandoned Clare Station , the warehouse and the castle grounds have been converted into a landscape park through which water flows in the old moats. The Stour Valley Path runs through this Clare Castle Country Park . The park opened in June 1972 after 6.1 hectares of land were donated by '' Anthony de Fontblanque '' and 1.8 hectares of land were bought by the railway company for £ 10,000. In 2014 the donjon and curtain wall were extensively strengthened with the help of English Heritage. At the Donjon, two of the battlements that have survived to this day were plastered and covered; a walkway was newly laid out and a flagpole was attached to the outer wall. In March 2015, the management of the park was transferred from Suffolk County Council to Clare Town Council . A non-profit organization runs Clare Castle Country Park with the help of volunteers for the city government. The castle ruin is a Scheduled Monument and was classified as Historic Building II *. Grade listed.

Individual references and comments

  1. ^ A b Norman John Greville Pounds: The Medieval Castle in England and Wales: a social and political history . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994. ISBN 978-0-521-45828-3 . P. 61. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  2. ^ R. Mortimer: The Beginnings of the Honor of Clare in Anglo-Norman Studies . Volume 3 (1981). Pp. 119-141.
  3. ^ Judith A. Green: The Aristocracy of Norman England . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1997. ISBN 978-0-521-52465-0 . P. 6. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  4. ↑ a b c d Clare Castle . National Monuments Record. English Heritage. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  5. ↑ Christopher Dyer: Making a Living in the Middle Ages: The People of Britain, 850-1520 . Yale University Press, London 2009. ISBN 978-0-300-10191-1 . S 63. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed on February 19, 2016).
  6. ^ A b c J. C. Wall: Ancient Earthworks in William Page (editor): The Victoria History of Suffolk . Volume 1. University of London, London 1911. p. 595.
  7. ↑ a b p Tymms: Clarecastle in Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archeology and History . Issue 1-3 (1849). P. 65.
  8. ^ Robert Liddiard: The Castle Landscape of Anglo-Norman East Anglia: A regional perspective in Christopher Harper-Bill (editor): Medieval East Anglia . Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2005. ISBN 978-1-84383-151-8 . P. 36. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  9. ^ Robert Liddiard: Castles in Context: Power, Symbolism and Landscape, 1066 to 1500 . Macclesfield, UK: Windgather Press, Macclesfield 2005. ISBN 0-9545575-2-2 . P. 30. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  10. ^ Robert Liddiard: Castles in Context: Power, Symbolism and Landscape, 1066 to 1500 . Macclesfield, UK: Windgather Press, Macclesfield 2005. ISBN 0-9545575-2-2 . P. 41. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  11. ↑ Christopher Harper-Bill (editor): Medieval East Anglia . Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2005. ISBN 978-1-84383-151-8 . P. 39. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  12. ^ A b Anthony Emery: Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500: Southern England . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2006. ISBN 978-0-521-58132-5 . P. 78. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  13. ^ Robert Liddiard: The Castle Landscape of Anglo-Norman East Anglia: A regional perspective in Christopher Harper-Bill (editor): Medieval East Anglia . Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2005. ISBN 978-1-84383-151-8 . S. 38. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  14. ↑ S. Tymms: Clarecastle in Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archeology and History . Issue 1-3 (1849). Pp. 65-66.
  15. ^ DJ Cathcart King: The Castle in England and Wales: An Interpretative History . Routledge, London 1991. ISBN 0-415-00350-4 . P. 16. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  16. ↑ Mark Bailey: Medieval Suffolk: An Economic and Social History, 1200-1500 . Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2010. ISBN 978-1-84383-529-5 . P. 129. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  17. ↑ Mark Bailey: Medieval Suffolk: An Economic and Social History, 1200-1500 . Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2010. ISBN 978-1-84383-529-5 . P. 17. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  18. ↑ a b c d e f g h James Dixon MacKenzie: The Castles of England: Their Story and Structure . General Books, 1896/2009. ISBN 978-1-150-51044-1 . P. 276.
  19. ↑ a b c Mark Bailey: Medieval Suffolk: An Economic and Social History, 1200-1500 . Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2010. ISBN 978-1-84383-529-5 . P. 18. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  20. ^ A b c Frances Ann Underhill: For her good estate: the life of Elizabeth de Burgh . St Martin's Press, New York 1999. ISBN 978-0-312-21355-8 . P. 67. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  21. ^ Robert Liddiard: The Castle Landscape of Anglo-Norman East Anglia: A regional perspective in Christopher Harper-Bill (editor): Medieval East Anglia . Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2005. ISBN 978-1-84383-151-8 . P. 41. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  22. ^ Robert Liddiard: Castles in Context: Power, Symbolism and Landscape, 1066 to 1500 . Macclesfield, UK: Windgather Press, Macclesfield 2005. ISBN 0-9545575-2-2 . 114. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  23. ^ Robert Liddiard: Castles in Context: Power, Symbolism and Landscape, 1066 to 1500 . Macclesfield, UK: Windgather Press, Macclesfield 2005. ISBN 0-9545575-2-2 . P. 103. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  24. ↑ It is impossible to accurately compare prices and incomes from the 14th century with today's prices and incomes. As a comparison, £ 3,500 was more than three times the median annual income of a baron in the early 15th century.
  25. ^ A b Norman John Greville Pounds: The Medieval Castle in England and Wales: a social and political history . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994. ISBN 978-0-521-45828-3 . 148. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  26. ↑ It is impossible to accurately compare prices and incomes from the 14th century with today's prices and incomes. As a comparison, £ 1,750 was more than one and a half times the median annual income of a baron in the early 15th century.
  27. ^ G. Holmes: Estates of the Higher Nobility in Fourteenth Century England . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1957. ISBN 978-0-521-11654-1 . P. 111. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  28. ↑ Mark Bailey: Medieval Suffolk: An Economic and Social History, 1200-1500 . Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2010. ISBN 978-1-84383-529-5 . Pp. 18-19. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  29. ^ Frances Ann Underhill: For her good estate: the life of Elizabeth de Burgh . St Martin's Press, New York 1999. ISBN 978-0-312-21355-8 . Pp. 68-70. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed February 19, 2016).
  30. ↑ One of the reasons for the large amount of bread that was produced was the custom of the time to pay wages in the form of bread.
  31. ^ Albert Way: Gold Pectoral Cross found at Clare Castle in The Archaeological Journal . Issue 25 (1868), p. 60.
  32. ↑ A golden pectoral cross from the 15th century was found during construction and given to Queen Victoria .
  33. ^ Albert Way: Gold Pectoral Cross found at Clare Castle in The Archaeological Journal . Issue 25 (1868), p. 61.
  34. ^ VW Hinkley: Branch Line . The reshaping of the Stour Valley Line. Stourline. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  35. ^ East Anglian Daily Times (June 15, 1975).
  36. ^ Clare Castle Country Park; Castle Restoration Works . Suffolk County Council, Countryside & Environment Services. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  37. ^ Clare Castle Country Park
  38. ↑ Steve Barton: Clare Castle Country Park transfer is complete . Haverhill Echo (April 1, 2015). Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  39. ↑ Clare Castle . Gatehouse Gazetteer. Retrieved February 19, 2016.

Web links

Commons : Clare Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 52 ° 4 ′ 36.5 ″  N , 0 ° 34 ′ 58.4 ″  E