Fenny Castle is the remains of a
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 (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortification ...
castle in the parish of
Wookey,
Somerset, England. It is a
Scheduled Ancient Monument,
but not accessible to the public.
It is sited on a natural hillock of
Lias approximately above the surrounding flat land on the edge of the
Somerset Levels.
Such sites were typically chosen for castles in low-lying areas.
The original builder of the castle is unknown, but it may be associated with
the Anarchy
The Anarchy was a civil war in England and 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 Adelin, the only legiti ...
, 1135–1153, a period of
English history during the reign of
King Stephen which was marked by a succession crisis between the supporters of Stephen and those of his cousin, the
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...
. In 1327 the owner was William atte Castle.
By 1480 it was described as a ruin by
William Worcestre who saw the plan of "all the houses and offices there". During the 19th century the quarrymen found twenty skeletons which were reported as dating from an unspecified period before the construction of the castle.
The castle gave its name to a
hamlet of the parish of Wookey named 'Castle', one mile south-west of the main village. A stone cross in the hamlet, marking its importance, was still to be seen in 1839.
Little remains of the stonework, and there is evidence of extensive quarrying. The mound is now covered in grass and scrub with a few trees.
However, the site was described in ''The Archaeology of Somerset'' (1982) as still having "interesting and prominent earthworks".
[Michael Aston, Ian Burrow, ''The Archaeology of Somerset: a review to 1500 AD'' (1982), pp. 9-12]
See also
*
Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
*
List of castles in England
References
{{reflist
Scheduled monuments in Mendip District
Castles in Somerset
Buildings and structures in Mendip District
Motte-and-bailey castles