Taunton Castle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Taunton Castle

Taunton Castle is a castle that was built to defend the town of Taunton in the English county of Somerset .

It has its origins in the Anglo-Saxon period; later a priory was established on the site . The Normans then built a stone castle that belonged to the Bishops of Winchester . The buildings now visible and completely renovated are in the inner courtyard, which is now the Museum of Somerset and the Somerset Military Museum .

Taunton Castle has been listed as a Grade I Historic Building by English Heritage .

Anglo-Saxon origins

The earliest fortress in Taunton was built for King Ine of Wessex and Queen Æthelburg around 710. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , it was destroyed again twelve years later, but it is unlikely that it stood in the same place as the current castle. A minster is said to have been founded in Taunton just a few years later by Queen Frithugyth , the wife of King Æthelheard , and the bishops of Wessex appear to have built an adjoining mansion .

Middle Ages and Tudor Period

JD Mackenzie's Castle floor plan The Castles of England: their story and structure

At the time of the Domesday Book , Taunton belonged to the bishops of Winchester , who had a minster or an Augustinian priory there. Between 1107 and 1129 William Giffard , Chancellor of Henry I , had the bishop's hall converted into a castle. His successor, Heinrich von Blois , turned the manor house into a mighty castle in 1138 during the civil war during the reign of his brother King Stephen . In 1216 it was defended by Bishop Peter des Roches , a supporter of King John , during the uprising of the barons. At the end of the 12th century, the donjon measured 20 meters by 30 meters and had a knight's hall on the first floor above a vaulted substructure. During the Second War of the Barons , it served as a prison for the son of Simon de Montfort , who was imprisoned here until 1282. In 1451, when the Earl of Devon besieged the castle of Lord Bonville was held, was that two forecourts built around.

The gatehouse in the inner courtyard probably came from the time of Edward I (1239–1307), but was changed in 1496 by Bishop Walter Langton . He had a large, two-winged window in Tudor style installed and a plaque with his own coat of arms, which was carried by angels arranged above, and placed the royal coat of arms of Henry VII below. The knight's hall, which is located exactly opposite the entrance, measures 37 meters by 9 meters. Some of its walls date from the Norman era, but have been modified by later generations. Bishop Langton had Tudor-era windows installed throughout, but all of these - with the exception of two on the north facade - were replaced in the 17th and 18th centuries. The last building to emerge within the castle walls was the schoolhouse that Bishop Richard Fox paid for in the 1520s.

Stuart period and civil war

Taunton Castle was in ruins around 1600, but was repaired again in the English Civil War . Taunton Castle was captured by the parliamentary army under Robert Devereux in June 1644, making it the only parliamentary enclave in south-west England. After the Roundhead army was surrendered at the Battle of Lostwithiel in Cornwall in September, the royalists besieged Taunton. From July 1644 to July 1645 the parliamentarist troops under the command of Robert Blake were besieged by the royalist troops under George Goring , although the city was briefly appalled by Sir William Waller in late November . A relief army under Colonel Ralph Weldon arrived in Taunton on May 11, but the combined forces remained besieged. The two generals held out until help arrived on June 14 because troops could be withdrawn from the Battle of Naseby . After the war, in 1662, the donjon was demolished and only the foundations remained.

In the Great Hall, Judge George Jeffreys held the Bloody Assizes after the Monmouth Rebellion . Of the more than 500 supporters of James Scott brought to justice on September 18-19, 144 were hanged and their remains were scattered across the country to ensure people understood what it would mean if one were against King rebelled.

architecture

Back of the castle

Taunton Castle was a typical Norman donjon from the first half of the 12th century, 15 meters long and 12 meters wide, with three floors and about 4 meters thick walls. It was built into the stone walls of a core castle and there was a bailey that is visible today as Castle Green . The castle served as a prison until the end of the 17th century.

By 1780, many parts of the castle were in disrepair and were restored in the Georgian style by Sir Benjamin Hammet , a London banker and member of the House of Commons . In 1786 he acquired the bailiff and administrator of Taunton Castle for his son and nephew. He had a new roof put in, many new windows installed and several other details renovated throughout the castle. In the 18th and 19th centuries the knight's hall was used for public gatherings.

Today there are two hotels in the outer bailey, which were provided with battlements so that they look similar to the buildings in the inner bailey. However, the large gate that leads into the enclosure near these hotels is partly from the Middle Ages. It has the arches of a gatehouse from around the time of Edward I , even though the superstructure is based on a restoration from 1816. In 1873 it was bought by the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society and in 1899 and 1900 the Great Hall was repaired and equipped as the society's main museum location. In 1908 and 1909, the Adam Library was created to house the Society's growing number of books.

The castle today

The locked entrance

The great hall and inner castle of the original castle make up the Museum of Somerset , which opened in September 2011 after a £ 7m restoration funded in part by the Heritage Lottery Fund .

The 17th century Castle House has been designated an Ancient Monument . Due to its poor condition, it was included in the Heritage-at-Risk register and subjected to necessary repairs, but is still uninhabited today (as of 2013).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Taunton Castle . In: Images of England . Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  2. a b c d History of Taunton Castle in Somerset By Charles Oman . In: Britannia castles . Archived from the original on May 31, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  3. ^ A b c Robert Dunning: Somerset Castles Somerset Books, Tiverton 1995. ISBN 978-0-86183-278-1 . Pp. 47-51.
  4. James Dixon Mackenzie: The Castles of England: their story and structure . Macmillan, New York 1897. p. 99.
  5. a b c Taunton Castle . In: Castles and fortifications of England and Wales . Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  6. a b c d Taunton Castle . In: Everything Exmoor . Archived from the original on May 5, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  7. Jaohn Barratt: The civil war in the south west . Pan & Sword Military, Barnsley 2005. ISBN 1-84415-146-8 . Pp. 112-115.
  8. Robin Bush: Somerset: The Complete Guide . Dovecote Press, 1994. ISBN 1-874336-26-1 . Pp. 202-206.
  9. ^ Taunton's History . In: Taunton Town Center! . Archived from the original on June 3, 2007. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  10. a b Taunton Castle . In: Pastscape National Monuments Record . English Heritage. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  11. ^ The Good Ship Taunton Castle by David Dawson . In: Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society . Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2007.
  12. The Castle (The inhabited parts only), Castle Green (North side), Taunton . In: Somerset Historic Environment Record . Somerset County Council. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  13. ^ The History of the Society . In: Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society . Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
  14. ^ Phil Hill: Plans go in for £ 6.5million museum . In: Somerset County Gazette , October 24, 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2015. 
  15. Shell keep castle, part of the associated outer bailey, ninth century cemetery and a Civil War siegework at Taunton Castle . Historic England. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  16. ^ Castle House, The Castle, Castle Green, Taunton - Taunton Deane . In: Heritage at Risk . English Heritage. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

Web links

Commons : Taunton Castle  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 0 ′ 56.3 "  N , 3 ° 6 ′ 16.5"  W.