Nantwich Castle

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Nantwich Castle is an Outbound castle in Nantwich in the English county of Cheshire . It was built before 1180 to protect a ford across the River Weaver . The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1288. The last document about the castle dates from 1462 and in 1485 it was already in ruins . Today there are no more traces of the building above ground. Excavations near the Crown Inn in 1978 revealed terracing and two moats, one of which was believed to be the outer courtyard.

history

The Crown Inn is now near the former castle

The castle was built before 1180. There are no documents about the client or the exact construction period. Some sources believe it was probably built at the behest of Willam Malbank, 1st Baron of Wich Malbank , the first Baron of Nantwich. But local historian Eric Garton cites a document calling the castle the "Castle of Piers Malbanke," the existence of which is nowhere else recorded. It could be a brother of William Malbank or one of his heirs, Hugh Malbank and William Malbank, 3rd Baron of Wich Malbank . Archaeological evidence indicates that the castle stood on a slight elevation between the River Weaver and what is now High Street and Mill Street , believed to be near what is now the Crown Inn . This is one of the highest points in Nantwich and has certainly given the castle a strong position near the ford over the River Weaver to the south of today's bridge.

While Nantwich Castle was a barons' castle, it wasn't one of the larger castles in Cheshire. The only known description in a town history by John Weld Platt from 1818 mentions that the castle “was square and provided with a tourelle on every corner . The outer walls of the castle were protected by a moat of considerable width that could only be crossed by a drawbridge . ”But the later historian James Hall regards Platt's description as“ purely fictional and therefore without any historical significance. ”

After the death of the 3rd Baron in the 1160s or 1170s, who left no male heirs, the barony's lands and privileges were divided between his three daughters. In an investigation report from May 15, 1288 it is mentioned that the castle fell to his eldest daughter, Philippa ; this is the first written mention of the castle. Philippa Malbank married Thomas, Lord Basset , and their daughter and co-heiress, also Philippa , married Henry de Beaumont, 5th Earl of Warwick . In the 13th century the castle fell back to the Earl of Chester when Philippa, Countess of Warwick, died with no descendants.

On June 22, 1278 King Edward I loaned Nantwich Castle to Randle de Merton ; then on August 25th of the same year it fell to Sir Randle Praers . His grandson, Thomas Praers , leased most of the land and the castle for life to his neighbor, John Gryffin from Bartherton , for a nominal lease of one rose annually. This act appears to have been confirmed, as Edward of Woodstock , the Earl of Chester, wrote on May 16, 1344:

“As far as we understand, Thomas de Prayers from Bertonlegh in our county of Chester was a real fool and in his stupidity leased part of his land to his own great harm and also to ours, which is why we called him before us so that we could examine him, and we have arranged for his examination by the members of our council, as well as by other legal experts, and in this examination it was found that he was a man of good sense and sufficiently capable of properly running himself and his estates and we were informed by those who examined it. "

After the death of Thomas Praer, the castle fell to Sir Thomas Fouleshurst through the marriage of his daughter and heiress, Elizabeth , and then it remained in the Fouleshurst family .

The last official document in which the castle is mentioned is from 1462 and by 1485 it was already in ruins. Building blocks of the castle are believed to have been used in the construction of Kingsley Chapel (south transept ) for the construction of St. Mary's Church in Nantwich , according to some sources , but the chapel is believed to date from 1405. In 1550 the area was called Lamburcote or Lambercote and was pastureland. At the beginning of the 19th century, when George Ormerod wrote his book History (...) , there was no more surface trace of the castle. Most of the former castle grounds were leveled in the 1950s and served as a car park.

Today's remains

1978 were behind the Crown Inn by Robina McNeil Sale and performed other excavations, where you found evidence for a terracing, perhaps remnants of a platform or Mounds . Two parallel trenches were also found, an earlier one with steep edges, which is believed to date from ancient times , and a larger one from the Middle Ages . The latter could have been part of the outer courtyard, even if it was smaller than the courtyards of most castles, presumably because the nearby river formed a natural barrier. Instead, it could simply have been a moat . This moat was silted up in the 13th century, which could indicate when the castle was abandoned as a military defense facility. The former moat may have been an earlier part of the castle's defensive structures, which were replaced by the later moat. But it may also be part of an even earlier building, perhaps even the moat mentioned in the Domesday Book as being built around one side of the settlement's salt houses.

A curve of the high street follows the outer castle wall.

Earlier excavations in 1974 and 1976 behind House 28, High Street (then the National Westminster Bank ) by David Hill of the University of Manchester also unearthed a large dig, the McNeil Sale, for a sequel to one of the two Holds trenches of their excavations from 1978. Evidence of a drawbridge was found during canal construction in 1979.

No evidence has yet been found for the existence of stone buildings. This could be because the building blocks of the castle were completely reused for other buildings, or because the remains of those buildings are in places where no excavation has been carried out, perhaps under what is now the High Street . But it is also possible that the castle was never more than a small wooden structure.

The castle had an impact on the road layout in the settlement. Today's High Street is supposed to follow in the footsteps of the outer castle wall: From Hospital Street (the first street of the settlement) gently around a bend to the River Weaver; The Regent House is on a sharper curve today . All major roads east of the river lead radially outward from the High Street. The Castle Street to be named after the castle, even if the name showed up this road until 1489, when the castle was already in ruins.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Robina McNeil Sale ao: Archeology in Nantwich: Crown Car Park Excavations . Bemrose Press, 1978, pp. 12-17.
  2. ↑ a b c J. Lake: The Great Fire at Nantwich . Shiva Publishing, 1983, ISBN 0-906812-57-7 , pp. 3-4, 92.
  3. ↑ a b A. Lamberton, R. Gray: Lost Houses in Nantwich . Landmark Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-84306-202-X , p. 77.
  4. ↑ Eric Garton: Nantwich, Saxon to Puritan: A History of the Hundred of Nantwich, c 1050 to c 1642 . Johnson & Son, Nantwich 1972, ISBN 0-9502738-0-5 , p. 8.
  5. ↑ BMC Husain: Cheshire under the Norman Earls: 1066-1237 in JJ Bagley (ed.): History of Cheshire . Volume 4. Cheshire Community Council, 1973, p. 101.
  6. ^ John Weld Platt: The History and Antiquities of Nantwich in the County Palatine of Chester . Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1818, p. 73.
  7. ^ A b James Hall: A History of the Town and Parish of Nantwich, or Wich Malbank, in the County Palatine of Chester. 2nd Edition. EJ Morton, 1972, ISBN 0-901598-24-0 , p. 16.
  8. ↑ James Hall: A History of the Town and Parish of Nantwich, or Wich Malbank, in the County Palatine of Chester. 2nd Edition. EJ Morton, 1972, ISBN 0-901598-24-0 , pp. 22-24.
  9. ^ J. Lake: The Great Fire at Nantwich . Shiva Publishing, 1983, ISBN 0-906812-57-7 , p. 135.
  10. ↑ a b c d James Hall: A History of the Town and Parish of Nantwich, or Wich Malbank, in the County Palatine of Chester. 2nd Edition. EJ Morton, 1972, ISBN 0-901598-24-0 , pp. 25-27.
  11. ↑ a b c d Monument No. 72713 . Pastscape. Historic England. English Heritage. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  12. ^ Take a Closer Look at Nantwich . Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council.
  13. ↑ James Hall: A History of the Town and Parish of Nantwich, or Wich Malbank, in the County Palatine of Chester. 2nd Edition. EJ Morton, 1972, ISBN 0-901598-24-0 , p. 282.
  14. ^ A b Eric Garton: Tudor Nantwich: A Study of Life in Nantwich in the Sixteenth Century . Cheshire County Council Libraries and Museums, 1983, ISBN 0-903017-05-9 , p. 10.
  15. ^ George Ormerod: The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester. 2nd Edition. Routledge, 1882, p. 436.
  16. ^ Robina McNeil Sale among others: Archeology in Nantwich: Crown Car Park Excavations . Bemrose Press, 1978, p. 3.
  17. ^ Robina McNeil Sale among others: Archeology in Nantwich: Crown Car Park Excavations . Bemrose Press, 1978, pp. 6-8, 10-11.
  18. ↑ James Hall: A History of the Town and Parish of Nantwich, or Wich Malbank, in the County Palatine of Chester. 2nd Edition. EJ Morton, 1972, ISBN 0-901598-24-0 , pp. 10-11.
  19. ^ PJ Stevenson: Nantwich: A Brief History and Guide . 1994, p. 7.

Web links

Coordinates: 53 ° 4 ′ 1.2 "  N , 2 ° 31 ′ 22.8"  W.