Crewkerne Castle
{{Short description|Castle in Somerset, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name = Crewkerne Castle
|partof =
|location = Crewkerne, Somerset
|image = 225px
|caption = Possible earthwork ramparts of Crewkerne Castle
|map_type = Somerset
|map_size = 200
|map_caption = Shown within Somerset and the British Isles
|type = Possible motte and bailey
|coordinates = {{coord|50.8929|N|2.8260|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
|gridref = {{gbmapping|ST420107}}
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|demolished = This castle was never finished
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Crewkerne Castle (which is also known as Castle Hill or Croft Castle) was possibly a Norman motte and bailey castle on a mound that is situated north-west of the town of Crewkerne in Somerset, England.
Details
Crewkerne Castle a {{convert|450|ft|m}} high outcrop{{cite web|title=Croft Castle, Castle Hill, West Crewkerne|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/54678|work=Somerset Historic Environment Record|publisher=Somerset County Council|accessdate=15 July 2011}} that since at least 1839 has been termed a castle site. Archaeological and geophysical research has found a ditch around the hilltop, with a masonry square within it, while fragments of 12th century pottery have been found on the site.[http://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/3253.html Croft Castle Crewkerne], Gatehouse website, accessed 12 July 2010. One theory is that this is a Norman motte; another that it is a 13th-century manor house;{{cite web|last=Richardson |first=Miranda |title=An archaeological assessment of Crewkerne |url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_CrewkerneText.pdf |work=English Heritage Extensive Urban Survey |publisher=Somerset County Council |accessdate=15 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717061802/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_CrewkerneText.pdf |archivedate=17 July 2011 }} alternatively it may be simply have been a local folly.
The manor had been granted to Richard de Redvers by Henry I by the year 1107 and it is thought that his son Baldwin built on the hill. In 1150 the Bishop of Salisbury was given the services of knights associated with the castle.{{cite book|last=Dunning|first=Robert|title=Somerset Castles|year=1995|publisher=Somerset Books|location=Tiverton|isbn=978-0-86183-278-1|pages=35–37}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, The David & Charles Book of Castles, David & Charles, 1980. {{ISBN|0-7153-7976-3}}