Someries Castle: A Fortified Manor House in England
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 3.9
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- English
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Manor House
On this page6 sections
History
Medieval Origins
Someries Castle is a ruined fortified manor house in England, near Luton in Bedfordshire. Built during the fifteenth century, it is regarded as one of the earliest brick buildings in the country. Although traditionally called a castle, the building was a private residence with defensive features rather than a major military fortification. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, a legally protected archaeological or historic site of national importance.
The site’s name derives from William de Someries, also recorded as William de Somerys, who had a residence there. Sir John Wenlock acquired the property in 1430 and began constructing the mansion. The work remained unfinished when Wenlock died at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, a major conflict in the Wars of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York. The property subsequently passed to the Rotheram family.
Demolition and Tradition
Much of the mansion was demolished during the eighteenth century. Earthworks once understood as the remains of an earlier manor house are now interpreted as the formal garden belonging to Wenlock’s fifteenth-century mansion. The site also preserves a local tradition that Sir John Wenlock’s ghost continues to haunt the castle.
Remains
The ruined manor house stands at approximately 157 metres above sea level in a predominantly flat agricultural landscape near Luton. Its principal surviving material is brick, although much of the mansion has been demolished. The remaining structures and earthworks together indicate the arrangement of the fifteenth-century residence and its grounds.
Gatehouse, Chapel, and Lodge
The surviving brickwork includes the remains of a gatehouse incorporating a chapel and a lodge. This part of the fortified manor house still stands, providing the clearest surviving fragment of the original building. Bricks from the mansion were also reused in nearby farm buildings constructed during the nineteenth century.
Formal Garden Earthworks
Earthworks associated with Someries Castle belong to the formal garden of the fifteenth-century mansion. Their interpretation connects the surviving ground features with the residence built by Sir John Wenlock, rather than with a separate earlier manor house.
