Acton Burnell Castle is a 13th-century fortified

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

, located near the village of

Acton Burnell Acton Burnell is a village and parish in the English county of Shropshire. Home to Concord College, it is also famous for an early meeting of Parliament where the Statute merchant was passed in 1283. The population at the 2011 census was 544. ...

, Shropshire, England (). It is believed that the first

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

at which the Commons were fully represented was held here in 1283. Today all that remains is the outer shell of the manor house and the gable ends of the barn. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

of the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest.

Initial building

The manor house was built in 1284 by

Robert Burnell Robert Burnell (sometimes spelled Robert Burnel;Harding ''England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 159 c. 1239 – 25 October 1292) was an English bishop who served as Lord Chancellor of England from 1274 to 1292. A native of Shropshire, h ...

Bishop of Bath and Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of Do ...

, friend and advisor to

King Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal ...

. Its position was important at the time because it was near to the old

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main R ...

. The extent of the estate is not known, as much of the building has been completely destroyed or remains undiscovered. It would have been substantial enough to accommodate Edward I and his retinue, soldiers and advisers, but was never an actual castle. Robert Burnell was granted a royal

licence to crenellate In medieval England, Wales and the Channel Islands a licence to crenellate (or licence to fortify) granted the holder permission to fortify his property. Such licences were granted by the king, and by the rulers of the counties palatine within the ...

and fortify the manor on 28 January 1284, a benefit only extended to trusted people. The building was rectangular with a tower at each corner. It was three storeys high consisting of a hall, solar, bedrooms, offices, chapel and kitchen. Robert Burnell also built the nearby Church of St Mary and the surrounding village. Prior to this, in the autumn of 1283, Edward I had held a Parliament at Acton Burnell, presumably in the adjacent great barn, the only building large enough. It is significant in that it was the first time in English history that the law-making process included the Commons. The law passed became known as the

Statute of Acton Burnell Statute merchant and statute staple are two old forms of security, long obsolete in English practice, though references to them still occur in some modern statutes. The former security was first created by the 1283 Statute of Merchants, or Statute ...

, a law giving protection to creditors, indicating the increasing significance of traders during those times.

Subsequent owners

When Robert Burnell died in 1292, the estate was passed down through the family line, eventually becoming owned by the Lovels of Titchmarsh, via a marriage. Following the

Battle of Stoke Field The Battle of Stoke Field on 16 June 1487 may be considered the last battle of the Wars of the Roses, since it was the last major engagement between contenders for the throne whose claims derived from descent from the houses of Lancaster and Yo ...

in 1487, the land was confiscated by Henry VII, who in turn granted it to

Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk (144321 May 1524), styled Earl of Surrey from 1483 to 1485 and again from 1489 to 1514, was an English nobleman, soldier and statesman who served four monarchs. He was the eldest son of John Howard, 1st Duk ...

. By the time it passed to the Smythe family in the mid-17th century, it had been mostly demolished.Today Acton Burnell Castle is maintained by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

. All that remains open to the public is the shell of the former private residence, accessible via a footpath through a small wood.

Notes

External links

{{Commons category, Acton Burnell Castle
National Monuments record information on Acton Burnell Visitor information at English Heritage
Castles in Shropshire Grade I listed buildings in Shropshire English Heritage sites in Shropshire Ruins in Shropshire

Initial building

Subsequent owners

See also

Notes

External links