CASTLE.
Although there is no known record
of the building until 1204, (fn. 6) Stogursey castle was
presumably in 1166 the caput of the honor,
including more than 27 knights' fees, of William
(III) de Curci, lord of Stogursey. (fn. 7) On William's
death in 1171 the honor passed to his infant son
William (IV) who took possession in 1189 and
died without issue in 1194. (fn. 8) His sister and heir
Alice had married Warin FitzGerold, who forfeited the honor before his death in 1216. (fn. 9) In
that year the Crown ordered the destruction of
the castle, (fn. 10) which therefore may have been
excluded from the grant of Stogursey manor (fn. 11) in
the same year to Fawkes de Breauté, husband of
Margaret, Alice's daughter by Warin. Fawkes's
rebellion led to the siege of the castle, which in
1224 the constable was ordered to deliver to the
sheriff. (fn. 12) Half the honor, including Stogursey,
was claimed for Joan, Alice's daughter by Henry
of Cornhill; by 1228 Joan's husband Hugh de
Neville of Essex (d. 1234) was in possession of
Stogursey lands (fn. 13) and in 1233 the Crown ordered him to fortify the castle. (fn. 14) His son and heir
John died in 1246 leaving a son Hugh who came
of age in 1256, forfeited his lands for rebellion,
and died childless in 1269. He had been pardoned but in 1266 surrendered Stogursey, which
the Crown granted to Robert Walerand (d. c.
1273). Robert's nephew and namesake was both
a minor and an idiot, (fn. 15) and the Crown made
temporary grants of Stogursey to Ames of
Savoy, Thomas Button, archdeacon of Wells,
and Queen Eleanor until 1297 or later. (fn. 16)
When Robert Walerand died c. 1301 the
Crown was in possession of Stogursey castle and
borough, and the Crown retained control since
Robert's brother and heir John was also an
idiot. (fn. 17) In 1308 the king granted custody to
Robert (III) FitzPayn of Poorstock (Dors.), and
in the following year, on John's death, Robert
retained the estate which, by the time of his
death in 1315, he held in chief. (fn. 18) Robert (IV)
FitzPayn, Lord FitzPayn, son of the last, died
in 1354 leaving a widow Ela (d. 1356) and a
daughter Isable. The estate passed on Ela's
death to Robert's nephew Robert Grey of Codnor (Essex), who assumed the name FitzPayn. (fn. 19)
His daughter and heir Isabel (d. 1394) married
Richard Poynings, Lord Poynings (d. 1387), and
Isabel's son Robert, Lord Poynings (d. 1446),
was succeeded by his granddaughter Eleanor,
daughter of Richard Poynings and wife of Henry
Percy, later earl of Northumberland (d. 1461).
Eleanor died in 1484 and was followed by her
son Henry (d. 1489), Henry's son Henry Algernon (d. 1527), and Henry Algernon's son Henry
(d. 1537), successive earls of Northumberland. (fn. 20)
By 1514 the estate was described as the manors
of Stogursey, Wyndeats, and Wick. (fn. 21)
On the death of the earl of Northumberland in
1537 his lands passed by his gift to the Crown, (fn. 22)
and those in Stogursey were granted first to Sir
Richard Gresham and almost immediately afterwards to Henry Courtenay, marquess of Exeter,
who had had an interest in them from 1532. (fn. 23)
Courtenay was attainted in 1538 (fn. 24) and the estate
was granted in 1541 to Queen Catherine Howard
(d. 1542). (fn. 25) It was later granted to Queen Catherine Parr on whose death in 1548 the castle
(then called Wyndeats), together with the
borough and Stogursey, Wick FitzPayn, and
Wyndeats manors passed to Edward Seymour,
duke of Somerset (d. 1552). (fn. 26) They reverted
again to the Crown in 1552, and in the following
year Stogursey castle and manor were presumably subsumed in a grant of Wick and Wyndeats
manors and Stogursey borough to Edward
Courtenay, earl of Devon, who died without
issue in 1556. (fn. 27)
The earldom of Northumberland was revived
in 1557 in favour of Thomas Percy, nephew of
the previous earl, with remainder to Henry
Percy, Thomas's brother, and Thomas was
granted an estate described as the manors of
Wick FitzPayn and Wyndeats and the borough,
manor, and castle of Stogursey. (fn. 28) Thomas died
in 1572 and Henry in 1585. Henry was followed
by his son, also Henry (d. 1632), that Henry's
son Algernon (d. 1668), and Algernon's son
Joceline (d. 1670), successive earls of Northumberland. (fn. 29)
Following Joceline's death without male heir
the estate was divided and sold by trustees
largely from 1681. (fn. 30) Ownership of the castle is
unknown until 1724, when it belonged to John
Willis of Goathurst (d. 1761). He bequeathed it
to George Davis (d. c. 1786), whose son William
sold it in 1820 to (Sir) Peregrine Acland. (fn. 31) It was
sold by Lord St. Audries in 1952 (fn. 32) and in 1981
was bought by the Landmark Trust. (fn. 33)
The castle, which stands on low ground to the
south of Stogursey village, comprises a roughly
circular motte with two baileys, the inner protecting the motte on the south and east, the outer
at a higher level further east, both surrounded
by earth banks and watercourses. A third embanked enclosure lies north and west. The
character of the earthworks and the evidence of
structures beneath the motte suggest that the site
was occupied and defended before the present
castle was built, (fn. 34) and that it was, perhaps, the
dwelling of William de Falaise mentioned c.
1100. (fn. 35)
The standing buildings of the castle, confined
to the motte, comprise a curtain wall strengthened by a circular tower on the west side and
a gatehouse to the east, to which a house was
later added. The curtain wall contains work of
the 12th century (fn. 36) but may have been rebuilt in
the 14th. The towers appear to be of the 13th
century, the gatehouse evidently succeeding a
single, circular tower. (fn. 37) Those works may be
related to the order of 1233 to fortify the castle. (fn. 38)
In 1304 the constable was ordered to have its
bridges repaired. (fn. 39) In the 1490s a new tower was
built, two others re-roofed, and other rooms
were fitted up when the castle was in use as a
centre of estate administration. Among the
rooms were an audit room, a wardrobe, and a
prison besides domestic quarters which included
a nursery. (fn. 40) Repairs were made in 1519 (fn. 41) and a
constable was paid until 1530 (fn. 42) but by 1538 the
building was said to be in decay. (fn. 43) By the later
16th century destruction was evidently advanced
and rabbits were kept within the castle walls. (fn. 44)
Before 1614 the gatehouse was extended to form
a house, (fn. 45) which was inhabited in 1684. (fn. 46) The
house was rebuilt c. 1878 (fn. 47) and has been restored
by the Landmark Trust for use as holiday
accommodation. (fn. 48)