Marlborough Castle

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Marlborough Castle , also known locally as The Mount , is a ruined castle in the parish of Marlborough in the English county of Wiltshire on Old Bath Road , the old main road from London to Bath . The barrow on which the fortress was built in the 11th century was probably the "Barrow of Maerla", so a prehistoric earthwork formed the mound of the Norman Marlborough Castle. Today only a tree-lined hill in the center of Marlborough College remains.

history

In 1067, King William the Conqueror took control of the Marlborough area and ordered Bishop Roger of Salisbury to build a moth on the prehistoric barrow . Æthelric II , Bishop of Selsey , is said to have been imprisoned in a castle in Marlborough and also died in 1070. King William chose the neighboring Severnake Forest as his favorite hunting ground and Marlborough Castle became the royal residence: King Henry I spent Easter 1110 at Marlborough Castle, which proves that the castle was habitable at the time. In the Civil War of Anarchy , Marshal John FitzGilbert held the castle for King Stephen out of fealty, which he owed him. Around 1175 the stone castle was strengthened. From 1223 to 1224 Eleanor of Brittany sat there , base of King Henry III. and because of their birthright with better rights to the throne, briefly as a state prisoner. After the death of Heinrich III. Marlborough Castle lost its position as royal residence. From 1273 to 1369 it served only as a widow's residence: the castle and royal borough were awarded to Eleanor of Provence († 1291) for life in 1273 . Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel , was born there on May 1, 1285 . In 1299 the castle was awarded to Margaret of France († 1318) and in 1318 Isabelle de France , who, however, had to do without it from 1324-1327. Philippa von Hainaut was housed there in 1330 , after whose death in 1369 the castle returned to the English crown.

From 1370 Marlborough Castle was no longer used and fell into disrepair, but remained the property of the Crown. King Edward IV then transferred it to the Seymour family , his mother's relatives .

In 1403 the castle was completely ruined. Francis Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Trowbridge , (approx. 1590–1664) had a new family residence built there after he had acquired the property from his older brother, William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset , (1588–1660). 1683–1684 this house was replaced by the "New House" of his grandson Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset , apparently according to the plans of John Deane , a surveyor from Reading , Berkshire . The house was the heart of what is now Marlborough College. In the 18th century it was the beloved residence of Isabella, Countess of Hertford , the patroness of William Shenstone and James Thomson . Stephen Duck , the "thresher poet", described the house in Lady Hertford's time in A description of a journey to Marlborough (...) . The house then became a horse changing station, the Castle Inn , where the Marlborough Club, of which the Tories of Marlborough and the surrounding area were members, was founded in 1842. Then the house became the centerpiece of Marlborough College, founded in 1843 .

today

The property is a Scheduled Monument . Today only Castle Mound remains , a tree-lined earthwork on the grounds of Marlborough College. Traces of Neolithic and Roman settlement have been found near the hill. Parts of the donjon and curtain wall were identified during excavations and a Roman coin was found.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Marlborough Castle . Gatehouse Gazetteer. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  2. ^ A b c The borough of Marlborough in A History of the County of Wiltshire , No. 12: Ramsbury and Selkley hundreds . 1983. pp. 199-229. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  3. ^ A b The borough of Marlborough in A History of the County of Wiltshire , No. 12: Ramsbury and Selkley hundreds . 1983. pp. 160-184. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  4. ^ Robert B. Patterson: Anarchy in England, 1135-54: The Theory of the Constitution in Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies . Issue 6.3 (autumn 1974). P. 199.
  5. ↑ SEYMOUR, Sir Francis (c.1590-1664), of Savernake Park and Marlborough Castle, Marlborough, Wilts. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  6. ^ Howard Colvin: A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840 . 3rd edition 1995. Chapter: Deane, John .
  7. ^ Helen Sard Hughes: The Gentle Hertford: Her Life and Letters . New York 1940: Many letters detail her life at Marlborough Castle; she preferred life at court.
  8. ^ Helen Sard Hughes: Shenstone and the Countess of Hertford in PMLA . Issue 46.4 (December 1931). Pp. 1113-1127.

literature

  • David Field, Graham Brown, Andrew Crockett: The Marlborough Mound Revisited in Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine . Issue 94 (2001).

Web links

Koordinaten: 51° 25′ 0″ N, 1° 44′ 14″ W