Eccleshall Castle
Eccleshall Castle is a castle in the small town of Eccleshall in the English county of Staffordshire . English Heritage has it as a historical building II *. Grade listed and it is considered a Scheduled Monument .
The site is known to have been donated to Chad of York , the medieval Bishop of Lichfield . In 1200, Bishop Geoffrey de Muschamp received permission from King Johann Ohneland to fortify his house (English: "License to Crenellate"). Eccleshall, conveniently located on the main road between the centers of the Diocese of Lichfield, Lichfield , Chester and Coventry , made it an ideal administrative center for the Diocese. The first castle was replaced with a larger castle in 1305 by Bishop Walter Langton , Chancellor of England.
At the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses , Margaret of Anjou , the wife of King Henry VI. , after the Battle of Blore Heath in 1459, took refuge at the castle.
In June 1643 the castle was besieged by Sir William Brereton and his parliamentary army who camped around the church. Their guns caused substantial damage to walls, but the castle garrison held out, and with them Bishop Robert Wright , who had taken refuge there. When the parliamentarians finally took the castle on August 30, they discovered that the bishop had died of a heart attack he had suffered during the siege and that most of the defenders were either drunk or had gone into town for the Drinking taverns. The castle was razed so that it could no longer be used as a fortress, but most of the buildings, e.g. For example, a strange nine-sided tower, along with the walls on the moat and the medieval bridge , remained in use as a prison for the royalist nobles. The castle and estate were confiscated and sold, but the diocese later bought them back.
The current house, still called "Eccleshall Castle", was built between the ruins in 1693 at the behest of Bishop William Lloyd and included fragments of structures that had been razed in the 14th century. The following Bishops of Lichfield resided there. In the 18th century the gatehouse was demolished and the moat drained. The last bishop to live at Eccleshall Castle was John Lonsdale , who died in the house in 1867.
Today the castle is privately owned and not open to the public. The gardens are occasionally opened to raise money for local good causes and also for weddings. Eccleshall Castle was the home of the Carter-Motley family for over 100 years .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Eccleshall Castle - Staffordshire . Retrieved March 17, 2016.
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Coordinates: 52 ° 51 ′ 45.7 " N , 2 ° 15 ′ 30.3" W.