Stowey Castle: A Norman Motte-and-Bailey Castle in Somerset
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.3
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Norman
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page6 sections
History
Stowey Castle, also known as Nether Stowey Castle and locally as The Mount, is an 11th-century Norman motte-and-bailey castle at Nether Stowey in the United Kingdom. Built during the development of Norman lordship after the Norman Conquest, it occupied a defensible position in the Quantock Hills of Somerset.
Norman origins
Alfred of Spain, whose name referred to Épaignes in Normandy rather than the Iberian peninsula, is recorded as the Norman lord of Stowey in the Domesday Book of 1086. This survey of landholding and resources was commissioned by William the Conqueror. The castle’s construction is generally attributed either to Alfred or to his daughter Isabel. Its earliest written reference appears in a forged charter dated 1154.
Destruction and later history
The castle was destroyed in the 15th century. This may have been a penalty connected with the involvement of the local lord Audley in the Second Cornish Uprising of 1497, a rebellion associated with Perkin Warbeck, who claimed the English throne in opposition to Henry VII. Some of the castle’s stone was later reused in Stowey Court at Nether Stowey.
During the 19th century, amateur excavations were undertaken on the top of the motte, apparently to expose the foundations of the keep. No record was made of any finds. The motte-and-bailey remains are protected as a Scheduled Monument, a nationally important archaeological site protected by law, while the keep foundations have Grade I listed status, the highest category of listed-building designation in England.
Remains
Stowey Castle occupied a small, isolated knoll formed from Leighland Slates of the Devonian geological period, approximately 119 metres high. The surrounding landscape is hilly to the southwest and flatter to the northeast. The castle consisted of a square keep, its defensive works, and inner and outer baileys, which were enclosed defensive compounds associated with the raised motte.
Motte and defensive earthworks
The conical motte has a flat summit and rises about 9 metres above a surrounding ditch. The ditch is approximately 2 metres wide and 2 metres deep, with a circumference of about 250 metres. Mounds around the top of the motte are generally interpreted as spoil from the 19th-century excavations, although they have also been considered possible remains of towers. The surviving earthworks are in a ruined condition.
Keep foundations
Approximately square foundations measuring 10 by 10 metres occupy the centre of the motte and contain internal divisions. Built from blue lias rubble, they are the only visible structural remains of the castle. The keep may have been constructed entirely in stone, or it may have carried a wooden superstructure on stone foundations.
