Sleaford Castle
Sleaford Castle is a ruined castle in Sleaford in the English county of Lincolnshire . The castle was built on behalf of the Bishop of Lincoln in the early 1120s to the late 1130s, was habitable until at least 1555, and fell into disrepair in the second half of the 16th century. As is known, two English monarchs stayed at the castle: Johann Ohneland and Heinrich VIII.
history
middle Ages
Alexander de Blois , the Bishop of Lincoln, had Sleaford Castle built between 1123 and 1147. It was a four-sided castle, similar to Newark Castle , with four square towers and a massive donjon . It was in the valley and not on the hill; maybe they even replaced an earlier, with trench provided mansion . This shows that the bishop wanted to use the castle as a mansion (to store the agricultural products of his lands, to manage the Episcopal lands, and as shelter for himself and his entourage when he visited the area) rather than as a defensive fortification, even if the flat environment would make it very difficult for an enemy to approach unseen.
For most of its existence the castle served as a mansion; never faced armed attack or siege, it became one of the most important episcopal fortresses and the agricultural hub of the bishop's lands in Sleaford and elsewhere. The dimensions of a 40 x 15 meter tithe barn (supposedly the largest in Lincolnshire, with a cattle barn and a hayloft) can still be seen in the southern half of the castle ruins. The residents paid their tithe to the bishop either as labor (in service on his lands, in his army, or for the garrison of his castle), as a share of their agricultural income, or in money.
At the end of Westgate a dam was built over the River Slea , behind which a two-wheeled watermill was built. This created a large pond that supplied fish for the celebrations, rushes and thatch for roofing. An orchard in front of the castle provided the fruit and a dovecote east of the barn provided meat.
Twice the castle narrowly escaped siege: During the anarchy , Bishop Alexander had to hand over the keys to the castle personally to King Stephen in order to be spared from a siege after the king had successfully besieged Newark Castle. And in the 1320s, King Edward II doubted the bishop's loyalty and considered a siege.
King Johann Ohneland spent one night at the castle in October 1216, immediately after his disastrous crossing of the Wash and shortly before his death. In 1430, Bishop Richard Fleming died in the castle.
Early modern age
Henry VIII stayed at Sleaford Castle twice, once with his wife Catherine Howard in 1541 , when he was holding state council at the castle. In 1544 the castle fell to the Duke of Somerset , from whom the Crown confiscated it in 1546. During the two visits and also in 1555 the castle was still ready to be defended and habitable. John Leland described it as well preserved at the time. It had a gatehouse with two portcullis and a tall tower in the middle, "but not on a hill or any other elevation".
Decay
Soon Sleaford Castle fell into disrepair; in the second half of the 16th century, the lead was removed from roofs and the wooden parts. They were reused in buildings in the market settlement such as the Manor House . Some of these buildings are still preserved today. The decline continued under the ownership of the Carre family . In 1604 Sleaford Castle was described as "a formerly beautiful castle", from which it can be concluded that it had been largely or even completely demolished before 1600. An engraving from the beginning of the 18th century shows the castle as a ruin, but with large parts of the masonry still preserved.
today
Today only a ditch, a small fragment of masonry (a small, collapsed part of the wall in the northeast corner of the core castle ) and the associated earthworks can be seen. The ruin is a Scheduled Monument and English Heritage has listed it as a Grade II Historic Building. The ruin also serves as a refuge for wild animals.
Web links and sources
- Sleaford Castle . ECastles.
- Sleaford Castle . Gatehouse Gazetteer.
- Mike Salter: The Castles of the East Midlands . Malvern, 2002. p. 59.
- MW Thompson: Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales . Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot 1998. p. 179.
- Adrian Pettifer: English Castles. A guide by counties . Woodbridge, 1995. p. 148.
- David Roffe: Castles in S. Bennett, N. Bennett (Editor): An Historical Atlas of Lincolnshire . University of Hull Press, Kingston upon Hull 1993. pp. 40-1.
- DJ Cathcart King: Catellarium Anglicanum : Kraus Publications, London 1983. p. 262
- Plantagenet Somerset Fry: Castles of the British Isles . David & Charles, Newton Abbott 1980. p. 298.
- DR Roffe: Origins in CM Mahany, DR Roffe (Editor): Sleaford . Stamford 1979. pp. 11-16.
- DF Renn: Norman Castles of Britain . 2nd Edition. John Baker, 1973
- M. Beresford: New Towns of the Middle Ages . London 1967. p. 466.
- Alfred Harvey: Castles and Walled Towns of England . Methuen and Co., 1911.
- JD Mackenzie: Castles of England . Heinemann, 1897. pp. 439-440.
- T. Arnold (editor): Henrici Archidiaconi Huntendunensis Historia Anglorum . London 1879. p. 266
- E. Trollope: Sleaford and Wapentakes of Flaxwell and Aswardhurn in the County of Lincoln . London 1872. pp. 107-121.
- R. Allen Brown: A List of Castles, 1154-1216 in English Historical Review . Volume 74 (1959). [Reprinted in R. Allen Brown: 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers . Boydell Press, Woodbridge 1989. pp. 249-280.]
- William Camden: Britannia . 1607.
- Lucy Toulmin Smith (Editor): The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535–43 . Bell and Sons, London 1910. Volume 1. pp. 26-27. Volume 5. p. 32.
Coordinates: 52 ° 59 ′ 46.7 " N , 0 ° 24 ′ 58" W.