Elmley Castle
Elmley Castle is a ruined castle 1 km south of the village elmley Castle in the English county Worcestershire . At the end of the 11th century a wooden castle was built there, which was protected by earthworks . This stone castle was enlarged in the 12th and possibly also in the 13th century. Today only ruins of the important Norman castle can be found on the flanks of Bredon Hill .
history
It is believed that Robert "le Despenser" d'Abetot , the steward of King Wilhelm II. , Commissioned the construction of the castle in the years following the death of William the Conqueror . D'Abetot died childless around 1098 and his sole heir was his brother Urse d'Abetot . Elmley Castle was passed on to the powerful Beauchamp family through the marriage of Urse d'Abetot's daughter Emmeline to Walter de Beauchamp (later Walter of Elmsley Castle ) . The castle remained in the family until William de Beauchamp inherited Earldom and Castle of Warwick in 1268 from his maternal uncle, William Mauduit, 8th Earl of Warwick .
Thereafter, Elmley Castle remained a subsidiary property of the Earls of Warwick until it was given to the Crown in 1487. In 1528 the castle seems to have been habitable, as Walter Walshe was appointed constable and governor of the castle. In 1544, however, a report on the manor and castle of Elmsley was drawn up before the crown was lent to Sir William Herbert and Christopher Savage . It says that the roof of the castle is completely missing and that it is in a state of decay. Around the same time John Leland reported: “There is only one tower left and it is partly broken. As I passed, I saw wagons loaded with building blocks to repair the Pershore Bridge, about 11 miles away. It [the castle] is on the top of a wooded hill, a small town very close by. "
Today only earthworks remain of the castle, which are considered a Scheduled Monument . A medieval deer park around the castle ruins is still preserved today.
Individual evidence
- ^ Parishes: Elmley Castle, A History of the County of Worcester . Volume 3. 1913. pp. 338-346.
swell
- Plantagenet Somerset Fry: The David & Charles Book of Castles . David & Charles, Newton Abbott 1980. ISBN 0-7153-7976-3
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 3 '39.9 " N , 2 ° 1' 55.3" W.