LATER HISTORY OF THE CASTLE
Secretary John Thurloe, who
purchased the manor during the
Interregnum, replaced Morton's
palace by a house in the style of
the time, said to have been designed by Inigo Jones,
but almost certainly by his pupil John Webb. It had
a resemblance to Thorpe Hall, Peterborough, which
is certainly the work of the latter architect. (fn. 82) At the
Restoration the property reverted to the bishops. Most
of them, however, spent little, if any, time at Wisbech,
and the practice arose of leasing the castle to local
families. Henry Pierson was the first post-Restoration
tenant; later the Southwell family were lessees for more
than a century. In 1778-9 Edward Southwell was
paying £30 a year rent. (fn. 83) In 1793 statutory powers
were acquired (fn. 84) by Bishop Yorke to sell the castle and
grounds. The Bill passed despite the opposition of Sir
James Eyre, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, (fn. 85)
and the premises were sold by auction in the same year
to Joseph Medworth of Bermondsey (fn. 86) for £2,305. (fn. 87)
In 1811 Medworth offered the house to the capital
burgesses for the Grammar School, but they had hopes
of obtaining possession after Medworth's death at a
reduced price and the offer fell through. (fn. 88) Medworth,
who had been developing the 5-acre grounds as a residential estate since 1793, (fn. 89) pulled down Thurloe's
house and erected the present 'Wisbech Castle' in
1816.
Footnotes
| 82 |
A model of Thurloe's house is preserved in the Museum. For Webb and
Thorpe Hall see V.C.H. Northants. ii, 458. |
| 83 |
Bp.'s Mun., Ely, D 6. |
| 84 |
By 33-34 Geo. III c. liii. |
| 85 |
In a letter (written by Dr. John
Warren, Bishop of Bangor) preserved at
Ely (Bp.'s Mun., D 9), Eyre considered
that it would be improper for so rich a see
to alienate property, and imputed dishonesty
to Bishop Yorke as the castle was said to
be in bad repair. Warren and Eyre were
sons-in-law of Henry Southwell of Bank
House, Wisbech, a member of the family
tenanting the castle, and to that extent
interested parties. |
| 86 |
Formerly of Wisbech. See p. 246,
note 24. |
| 87 |
Fenland N. & Q. iv, 362 (containing
a site plan). |
| 88 |
Gardiner, Hist. Wisb. (1898), 234-6;
V.C.H. Cambs. ii, 328-9. The house was
in good repair in 1791, the chimney-stacks
and cornices having been repointed five
years earlier, but there were holes in the
stable roof and the gardens were neglected
(MS. in Wisb. Mus.). The preamble to
the Act authorizing the sale states that the
castle had for many years been in a ruinous
state. |
| 89 |
York (recte Yorke) Place commemo
rates the bishop under whom the sale took
place. A proposal to prolong Market
Street (laid out by Medworth) on the other
side of the Market Place, to form a new
approach to Lynn Road, was not carried
out. This proposal was still under debate
in 1824, when it was suggested that the
Grammar School should purchase Dr.
Whitsed's house (formerly belonging to
Dr. Fraser) and give up part of its premises
in Hill Street to allow the new street to
be made (Jackson Diary, 30 July 1824)
(Wisb. Mus.). |