Nunney Castle is a medieval

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

Nunney Nunney is a village and civil parish in the Mendip local government district within the English county of Somerset. It is located south-west of Frome and the parish includes the hamlet of Holwell. The name of the village comes from Old Englis ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

county of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

. Built in the late 14th century by Sir

John Delamare Sir John Delamare ( 1320 – 1383) was a knight at the court of King Edward III of England and the builder of Nunney Castle in Somerset. He gained permission to turn his manor house at Nunney into Nunney Castle in 1373. He was successively Hi ...

on the profits of his involvement in the

Hundred Years War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagene ...

, the

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

ed castle's architectural style, possibly influenced by the design of French castles, has provoked considerable academic debate. Remodelled during the late 16th century, Nunney Castle was damaged during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...

and is now ruined.

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 ...

maintains the site as a

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural ...

. The architectural historian

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, '' The Buildings of England'' ...

has described Nunney as "aesthetically the most impressive castle in Somerset."

History

14th century

Nunney Castle was built near the village of

by Sir

.Emery, p.604. Delamare had been a soldier during the

with France, where he had made his fortune.Pettifer, p.223. He obtained a

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 th ...

from

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

to build a castle on the site of his existing, unfortified manor house in 1373 and set about developing a new, substantial fortification.
Nunney Castle
', Somerset Historic Environment Record,

Somerset County Council Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county. On 1 April 2023 the county coun ...

, accessed 1 July 2011. The resulting castle centred on a stone tower-

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') 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 c ...

, measuring 60 feet by 24 feet (18 m by 7 m) internally and 54 feet (16 m) tall, with four round corner-towers.Gomme and Maguire, p.15Rigold, p.10. The tower-keep had eight-foot (2.4 m) thick walls made from Lias

Oolite Oolite or oölite (''egg stone'') is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Ancient Greek word for egg (ᾠόν). Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25� ...

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

stone and was designed around three floors.Emery, pp.604–5 The corner towers had conical roofs and prominent

machicolation A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at ...

s. The ground floor of the tower-house included the kitchen and other service areas. The functions of the first and second floors are uncertain; one theory is that the first floor was another service area, with the hall on the second floor; another approach argues that the first floor formed the hall, and the second floor living accommodation; a minority view proposes that the first floor was an armoury.Rigold, p.11. The third floor was used as living accommodation for the owning family. The original design had a number of windows and fireplaces on the upper floors, but the hall would have been relatively dark and the stairs were inconveniently narrow. The tower-keep had a modest entrance, which was reached by a draw-bridge that lay across the surrounding

, which initially reached right up to the base of the castle. A simple, 12-foot (3.6 m) high bailey wall, with minimal defensive value, surrounded the moat, which was in contrast wide, 10-foot (3 m) deep, and would have been difficult for an attacker to drain.Brown, p.94. On the east side of the castle Nunney Brook was used as a line of defence rather than a bailey wall. Historians, such as Adrian Pettifer and Stuart Rigold, previously believed that the design of Nunney was heavily influenced by the French castle designs that Delamare would have seen on his military campaigns. Nunney closely resembles the Bastille in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, for example, and the

s are typical of those found in French castles. Nunney was considered a conservative, even slightly backward design and probably built to protect against French invasion. Historians such as Robert Liddiard and Matthew Johnson are now less certain. Nunney is regarded as a bold, striking design, similar in many ways to those at

Herstmonceux Herstmonceux ( , ; ) is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, which includes Herstmonceux Castle. The Herstmonceux Medieval Festival is held annually in August. History The name comes from Anglo-Saxon ...

or Saltwood Castle. Whilst Nunney does resemble many French castles, there is no direct evidence that it was built in imitation of these designs, and indeed there are other English castles, such as Mulgrave and

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

, that have a similar structure to Nunney's. Nunney Castle may be better understood instead as characteristic of a wider range of tower-keeps built in England during the period, designed, as Nigel Pounds puts it, "to allow very rich men to live in luxury and splendour."

15th – 16th centuries

Nunney Castle was inherited by John's son, Philip Delamere, and grandson, Elias, before passing by marriage into the Poulet family following Elias' probable death during

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

's campaigns in France. Sir John Poulet and his son John, and grandson, also called John, held the castle during most of the 15th century, but their primary residence was Basing Castle in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

rather than Nunney. William Paulet, the Marquess of Winchester, was the final member of the family to own the castle; after his death in 1572 it passed rapidly through several owners and in 1577 was sold by Swithun Thorpe to John Parker, who only kept it for a year before selling it to Richard Prater, at a cost of £2,000. The castle was redeveloped in the second half of the 16th century, probably by the Praters: the windows were enlarged to let in more light; a grand staircase was built in one of the towers; a Catholic altar was installed, and a

revetment A revetment in stream restoration, river engineering or coastal engineering is a facing of impact-resistant material (such as stone, concrete, sandbags, or wooden piles) applied to a bank or wall in order to absorb the energy of incoming water a ...

, or terrace, was built around the inside of the moat, leaving it 25 feet (7.6 m) wide.

17th – 19th centuries

Nunney Castle continued to be owned by the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Prater family into the 17th century.Rigold, p.6. In 1642 the

broke out between the rival factions of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

and the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

; like many Catholics, Colonel Richard Prater supported Charles I. As the war progressed the Royalist situation deteriorated, however, and the south-west became one of the few remaining Royalist strongholds; Nunney Castle was garrisoned in anticipation of Parliamentary attack and took in a number of refugees, including many Catholics. In September 1645 a Parliamentary army under the command of Lord Fairfax and

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...

advanced into Somerset, taking

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. ...

, Cary and

Shepton Mallet Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parish in the Mendip District of Somerset, England, some south-west of Bath, south of Bristol and east of Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. Mendip District Council is based ...

before turning to Nunney. Two regiments of soldiers with cannons surrounded the castle on 18 September; when Richard Prater refused to surrender, the cannons opened fire on the north side of the castle, breaching the castle wall. Richard continued to resist, hoisting a flag with a Catholic

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (La ...

on it above the castle to taunt the besiegers, but two days later the garrison surrendered. Due to the damage caused by the cannon, the castle escaped the slighting, or deliberate damaging, that occurred to many other castles at the end of the civil war. Nonetheless, Richard Prater was forbidden to return to the castle, despite his promises to support Parliament, and his son, George Prater, only recovered Nunney from its interim owners after Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660. NE view of Nunney Castle

The castle declined and was sold by the Praters to William Whitchurch around 1700.Rigold, p.7. During the 18th century the building was still in a reasonable condition and in 1789 an order was received to make it ready to receive French prisoners, although it is unlikely that they ever arrived.Dunning (1995), pp.63–65.

20th – 21st centuries

By the 20th century, Nunney Castle was increasingly ruined and covered in thick

ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...

. As a result, on 25 December 1910 a portion of the damaged north wall entirely collapsed — most of the fallen stone is believed to have been stolen by local residents. In 1926, with the fabric of the castle under threat, the owner, Robert Baily-Neale, transferred the property to the Commissioner of Works, who began a programme of restoration work. The castle is now run by

as a

and is a

scheduled 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 and ...

.
Nunney Castle
', Gatehouse website, accessed 9 June 2011. The architectural historian

has described the castle as "aesthetically the most impressive castle in Somerset."Pevsner, p.238.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Ashurst, John and Francis G. Dimes. (2002)
Conservation of Building and Decorative Stone.
' Oxford: Elsevier. . * Brown, R. Allen. (1962)
English Castles.
' London: Batsford. OCLC 1392314. * Dunning, Robert. (1995) ''Somerset Castles''. Tiverton, UK: Somerset Books. . * Dunning, Robert. (2005)
A Somerset Miscellany.
' Tiverton, UK: Somerset Books. . * Dunning, Robert. (2007) ''Somerset Churches and Chapels: Building Repair and Restoration.'' Tiverton, UK: Halsgrove. . * Emery, Anthony. (2006)
Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500: Southern England.
' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. . * Gomme, Andor and Alison Maguire. (2008)
Design and Plan in the Country House: from castle donjons to Palladian boxes.
' Yale: Yale University Press. . * Hall, Hubert. (2003)
Society in the Elizabethan Age.
' Whitefish, US: Kessinger Publishing. . * Johnson, Matthew. (2002)
Behind the castle gate: from Medieval to Renaissance.
' Abingdon, UK: Routledge. . * Liddiard, Robert. (2005)
Castles in Context: Power, Symbolism and Landscape, 1066 to 1500.
' Macclesfield, UK: Windgather Press. . * Pettifer, Adrian. (2002)
English Castles: a Guide by Counties
'' Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. . *

Pevsner, Nikolaus Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (19 ...

. (1958)
North Somerset and Bristol.
' London: Penguin Books. OCLC 459446734. * Pounds, Norman John Greville. (1994)
The Medieval Castle in England and Wales: a social and political history.
' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. . * Rigold, Stuart. (1975)
Nunney Castle: Somerset.
' London: HMSO. . * Singman, Jeffrey L. (1995)
Daily life in Elizabethan England.
' Westport, US: Greenwood Press. . * Wedgwood, C. V. (1970) ''The King's War: 1641–1647.'' London: Fontana. OCLC 58038493.

External links

Nunney Castle
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