Richmont Castle

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Former Richmont Castle grounds

Richmont Castle is an Outbound hilltop castle near the village of East Harptree in the English county of Bath and North East Somerset . The moth , which is now completely ruined, once included a park and an artificial lake. It served as a mining court.

location

Richmont Castle is believed to have been built near the village of East Harptree soon after the Norman conquest of England in 1066 . The name means either "rich mountain" or "strong mountain". The castle was built on a steep spur above the River Chew valley . Next to this river valley, another valley starts from this spur.

description

The first version of the castle appears to have been built with just one courtyard on the south side, possibly including an old Iron Age fort , similar to the nearby Bincknoll Castle . Later versions of the castle had an inner courtyard within this first courtyard and a circular donjon at the highest point of the spur. The castle became part of a landscape park and was surrounded by a medieval deer park called Great Park . Below the donjon an artificial lake was probably created in the western valley floor.

history

The castle was probably built in the 11th century at the behest of William FitzJohn of Harptree .

In the 12th century, Richmont Castle was embroiled in the Civil War of Anarchy when Empress Matilda tried to take control of England. The castle was in the hands of William de Harptree , who assisted Matilda. In 1138 , after trying unsuccessfully to take Bristol , King Stephen moved with his troops to Richmont and, according to the chroniclers, took the castle by deception: King Stephen had his siege equipment set up some distance from the castle. After the garrison ventured out to take advantage of this situation, Stephen's troops quickly attacked the main gate of the castle behind them, burning it down, and taking the castle.

In 1205 King Johann Ohneland visited the castle. The De Harptree and De Guerney families used the castle throughout the Middle Ages, making it the administrative center and jurisdiction of one of the four mines in the Mendip region .

task

In the 1540s the castle was in ruins and was abandoned. The blocks were used to build residential houses in the area. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the castle grounds were extensively dug for lead and calamine , which were used in the Bristol foundries. Today the area is a Scheduled Monument and you can still see a small fragment of the donjon there.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b G. Brown: Richmont Castle, East Harptree: An Analytical Earthwork Survey, English Heritage Research Department Report No. 73 . English Heritage, London 2008. p. 4.
  2. ^ G. Brown: Richmont Castle, East Harptree: An Analytical Earthwork Survey, English Heritage Research Department Report No. 73 . English Heritage, London 2008. p. 13.
  3. ^ G. Brown: Richmont Castle, East Harptree: An Analytical Earthwork Survey, English Heritage Research Department Report No. 73 . English Heritage, London 2008. p. 1.
  4. ^ G. Brown: Richmont Castle, East Harptree: An Analytical Earthwork Survey, English Heritage Research Department Report No. 73 . English Heritage, London 2008. p. 11.
  5. ^ G. Brown: Richmont Castle, East Harptree: An Analytical Earthwork Survey, English Heritage Research Department Report No. 73 . English Heritage, London 2008. p. 12.
  6. ^ G. Brown: Richmont Castle, East Harptree: An Analytical Earthwork Survey, English Heritage Research Department Report No. 73 . English Heritage, London 2008. pp. 12, 15.
  7. ^ West Harptree . Bath and Avon Family History Society. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
  8. ^ A b J. D. Mackenzie: Castles of England . Macmillan, New York 1896. p. 67.
  9. ^ G. Brown: Richmont Castle, East Harptree: An Analytical Earthwork Survey, English Heritage Research Department Report No. 73 . English Heritage, London 2008. pp. 4-5.
  10. ^ Robert Dunning: A History of Somerset . Phillimore & Co., Chichester 1982. ISBN 0-85033-461-6 .
  11. ^ JW Gough: Mendip Mining Law and Forest Bounds in Somerset Record Society . No. 45 (1931). P. 142.
  12. ^ G. Brown: Richmont Castle, East Harptree: An Analytical Earthwork Survey, English Heritage Research Department Report No. 73 . English Heritage, London 2008. pp. 5, 14.
  13. ^ JD Mackenzie: Castles of England . Macmillan, New York 1896. p. 68.
  14. ^ Robert Dunning: Somerset Castles . Somerset Books, Tiverton 1995. ISBN 0-86183-278-7 . P. 18.
  15. ^ G. Brown: Richmont Castle, East Harptree: An Analytical Earthwork Survey, English Heritage Research Department Report No. 73 . English Heritage, London 2008. p. 16.
  16. ↑ a b Richmont Castle . In: Pastscape . Historic England. English Heritage. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
  17. ^ Richmont Castle, East Harptree . Gatehouse Gazetteer. Retrieved August 17, 2016.

Coordinates: 51 ° 17 '58.6 "  N , 2 ° 37' 46.6"  W.