Huntington-castle-herefordshire-august-2018

Huntington Castle was situated in the village of Huntington in

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, miles south-west of Kington ().

Natural Site

The

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

is sited on a commanding position on the modern day

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

border in what was the

Welsh Marches The Welsh Marches () is an imprecisely defined area along the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods. The English term Welsh March (in Medieval Latin ''Marchia W ...

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

and

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

times. It overlooks the valley, protected by steep ravines to the north and west, and moated by the brook.

Successor to Kington Castle

It is likely that this castle was built as the successor of nearby

Kington Castle Kington Castle stood in the medieval market town of Kington in Herefordshire, England (). It was built in the 11th century and destroyed in 1215. History The castle was located on the north-west side of the present town of Kington above the B ...

which was probably destroyed in 1216.

Powerful Barons, Kings & Future Royalty

The castle had been in the hands of the de Braose family but was seized in 1228 by Henry III following the death of

Reginald de Braose Reginald de Braose (19 September 1182 – June 1228) was one of the sons of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber and Matilda, also known as Maud de St. Valery and Lady de la Haie. Her other children included William and Giles. The de Braoses ...

. However the castle must have been returned to the de Braose family because on the death of William de Braose it passed by marriage to the

de Bohun The de Bohun then Bohun family is an English noble family of Norman origin that played a prominent role in English political and military history during the Late Middle Ages. The swan used by the family and their descendants as a heraldic badge ...

family and saw some fighting during the Barons' War of the 1260s. It remained in this family until the death of its last male heir in 1372. The eldest daughter of the family

Mary de Bohun Mary de Bohun (c. 1369/70 – 4 June 1394) was the first wife of Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Northampton, who after her death became King Henry IV. As she died before her husband came to the throne, Mary was never queen. She and Henry had six ch ...

married Henry,

Earl of Derby Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...

who was elevated to the rank of Duke of Hereford by

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...

, his cousin. It remained his property until his own accession to the throne as Henry IV in 1399.

Granted to Stafford by King Henry IV

The castle then passed to

Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford and 1st Baron Audley, KG, KB (2 March 1377 – 21 July 1403) was the son of Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford, and his wife Philippa de Beauchamp. He inherited the earldom at the age of 18, the thi ...

. In 1403 he was killed at the

Battle of Shrewsbury The Battle of Shrewsbury was fought on 21 July 1403, waged between an army led by the Lancastrian King Henry IV and a rebel army led by Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy from Northumberland. The battle, the first in which English archers fought ea ...

and possession passed to his widow, Anne, Countess of Stafford who then refortified the castle against

Owain Glyndŵr Owain ap Gruffydd (28 May 135420 September 1415), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr (Glyn Dŵr, , anglicised as Owen Glendower) was a Welsh people, Welsh leader, soldier and military commander in the Wales in the late Middle Ages, late Middle ...

Owain Glyndwr's Rebellion

She appointed John Sment as Constable of the castle, better placed than her to expertly man its defences. Glyndwr's forces came upon the castle flush after their total victory at the

Battle of Bryn Glas The Battle of Bryn Glas (also known as the Battle of Pilleth) was a battle between the Welsh and English on 22 June 1402, near the towns of Knighton, Powys, Knighton and Presteigne in Powys, Wales. It was part of the Glyndŵr rebellion of 1400-1 ...

, they simply drove the cattle away, took flour from the local mill and then burned the mill to the ground.

After 1415

It appears that the castle then went into decline. Peace was restored to the

during the reign of

King Henry V Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hundred Years' War against ...

with its focus on conflict abroad with France.

Reversion to the Crown

By 1564 it was in the possession of the Crown but then passed through a succession of hands.

The Civil War

By the time of the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

in 1642 it was a total ruin as a fortress. By 1670 the 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 ...

was still extant.

Currently

Now only the earthworks and some portions of stonework remain. The site is overgrown and is listed on

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

as poor condition.

References

SMR entry on Huntington Castle
*Remfry, P.M., ''Kington and Huntington Castles, 1066 to 1298'' () *Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, ''The David & Charles Book of Castles'', David & Charles, 1980.

External links

* {{coord, 52.17822, N, 3.09971, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SO249539), display=title Castles in Herefordshire Ruins in Herefordshire Scheduled monuments in Herefordshire