Montacute Castle

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View from the grounds of Montacute Castle

Montacute Castle is a ruined castle on a hill above the village of Montacute in the English county of Somerset .

Details

Montacute Castle was built for Robert de Conteville after the Norman conquest of England in 1066 . The castle was part of the new settlement called Mons Acutus ( Eng .: steep mountain), which was built on land De Conteville received from Athelney Abbey in exchange for Purse Caundle , an expensive trade for De Conteville. The natural shape of the hill was used to create an oval mound and an inner castle , which is surrounded by a bailey . A medieval deer park was created next to the castle and the settlement for hunting.

Montacute Castle floor plan

The location of the castle is believed to be a deliberate manifestation of De Conteville: Before the Battle of Hastings , the Anglo-Saxons had discovered something on the hill that they believed to be a Christian cross . The “holy cross”, which Harald Godwinson , who held it very highly, took with him into battle, also served as a battle cry for the Anglo-Saxons in the battle against the Normans.

Robert de Conteville made Montacute Castle the caput or main castle of his honor and gave up another castle that he had built in Somerset, Castle Neroche . The castle was besieged to no avail in 1068, during a great Anglo-Saxon revolt against the rule of the Normans, and the rebels were defeated by Geoffrey de Montbray , Bishop of Coutances . In 1102, however, William de Conteville , Robert's son, gave the castle and the surrounding lands to the Order of Cluny , who founded Montacute Priory there.

The castle was no longer of military value and was left to decay, even if the castle chapel , which was dedicated to the Archangel Michael , was still in use until at least 1315. The historian John Leland described the castle as "partially in ruins" in 1540 and from this time the ruins were also used as a source of building blocks, so that they finally disappeared completely. The castle chapel was rebuilt later after the surrounding castle was destroyed.

Today the site is a Scheduled Monument . An 18th century folly , St Michael's Hill Tower , named after the castle chapel, now stands on the site, partly on the foundations of the old castle chapel. The site is owned by the National Trust and is open to the public. English Heritage personnel reported the site to the National Trust in April 2000.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Miranda Richardson: English Heritage Somerset Extensive Urban Survey: an Archaeological Assessment of Montacute . Somerset County Council, Somerset 2003. p. 3. ( PDF ( Memento of the original from March 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove it Note. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www1.somerset.gov.uk
  2. ^ 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. 68. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed July 21, 2016).
  3. ↑ a b c d e Miranda Richardson: English Heritage Somerset Extensive Urban Survey: an Archaeological Assessment of Montacute . Somerset County Council, Somerset 2003. p. 7. ( PDF ( Memento of the original from March 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove it Note. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www1.somerset.gov.uk
  4. ^ Miranda Richardson: English Heritage Somerset Extensive Urban Survey: an Archaeological Assessment of Montacute . Somerset County Council, Somerset 2003. p. 8. ( PDF ( Memento of the original from March 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove it Note. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www1.somerset.gov.uk
  5. ^ A b Parishes: Montacute in A History of the County of Somerset . Volume 3 (1974), pp. 210-224. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  6. ^ 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. 64. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed July 21, 2016).
  7. ^ A b Miranda Richardson: English Heritage Somerset Extensive Urban Survey: an Archaeological Assessment of Montacute . Somerset County Council, Somerset 2003. p. 4. ( PDF ( Memento of the original from March 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove it Note. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www1.somerset.gov.uk
  8. ^ Robert Liddiard: Castles in Context: Power, Symbolism and Landscape, 1066 to 1500. Windgather Press, Mcclesfield 2005. ISBN 0-9545575-2-2 . P. 35. ( Preview in Google Book Search, accessed July 21, 2016).
  9. ^ JD Mackenzie: Castles of England . New York: Macmillan, New York 1896. p. 63.
  10. ↑ Oliver Hamilton Creighton: Castles and Landscapes: Power, Community and Fortification in Medieval England . Equinox, London 2005. ISBN 978-1-904768-67-8 . P. 117.
  11. ^ Miranda Richardson: English Heritage Somerset Extensive Urban Survey: an Archaeological Assessment of Montacute . Somerset County Council, Somerset 2003. pp. 4-7. ( PDF ( Memento of the original from March 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www1.somerset.gov.uk
  12. ^ Motte and bailey castle, Montacute . Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  13. ↑ L. Adkins, RA Adkins: Excavation on St Michael's Hill in Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society . No. 133 (1989). Pp. 125-129.
  14. ↑ Matthew Buckler, Martin Papworth: St Michael's Hill, Montacute: Management Plan, 2007-2012 . The National Trust, Warrington 2002. p. 3. ( PDF  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.nationaltrust.org.uk  
  15. ^ Montacute Castle . Pastscape. Historic England. English Heritage. Retrieved July 21, 2016.

Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 57.5 "  N , 2 ° 43 ′ 23.2"  W.