Cary Castle stood on Lodge Hill overlooking the town of Castle Cary,

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. It is a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

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The

motte and bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...

castle was built either by Walter of Douai or by his son Robert who also built Bampton Castle in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. During

The Anarchy The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Duchy of Normandy, Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adel ...

Robert was exiled by King Stephen and the castle given to Ralph Lovel who then sided with

Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester Robert FitzRoy, 1st Earl of Gloucester (c. 1090 – 31 October 1147 David Crouch, 'Robert, first earl of Gloucester (b. c. 1090, d. 1147)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200Retrieved 1 ...

against the king. King Stephen abandoned his siege of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in 1138 and besieged Cary Castle with fire and showers of stones from

siege engines A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while othe ...

. This lasted until the garrison surrendered due to hunger. In 1143 Stephen lost control of the

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

after the Battle of Wilton. Henry de Tracy gained control of Cary Castle and built another stronghold in front of the older castle, however this was demolished when William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester and his troops arrived to take the castle. The Lovels later achieved the return of the castle, and their descendants were lords of the manor until the 14th century. By 1468 the castle had been abandoned. Around that time a manor house was built on or adjacent to the site of the castle, possibly by Baron Zouche. It later passed to

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp (150022 January 1552) was an English nobleman and politician who served as Lord Protector of England from 1547 to 1549 during the minority of his nephew King E ...

but by the 1630s it was occupied by Edward Kirton. It was largely demolished at the end of the 18th century. The site was excavated in 1890 and demonstrated the foundations of a 24-metre square stone

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

and an inner and

outer bailey An outer bailey or outer ward is the defended outer enclosure of a castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It protects the inner bailey and usually contains those ancillary bui ...

. All that remains are the earthworks. Some of the castle's stonework may be seen in the town's buildings, and the Castle Cary and District Museum has a display about its history.

References

Sources

*Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, ''The David & Charles Book of Castles'', David & Charles, 1980. {{ISBN, 0-7153-7976-3 Castles in Somerset Scheduled monuments in South Somerset

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References

Sources