Tuesday 4 April 2017

Dudley Castle with animals -A Romantic Ruin

Dudley Castle was founded shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066. A formidable French knight by the name of Ansculf, who came from Picquigney, near Amiens, gained the estate of Dudley in 1070, following the unsuccessful rebellion of the Saxon lord, Earl Edwin of Mercia.
 The Castle was mentioned in the Domesday book survey of 1086, and at that time was being held by Ansculf's son, William.
 
 At the beginning of the 12th century, the Castle passed to the de Paganel family. How they obtained the barony is uncertain. In the 1130's Dudley Castle was refortified by Ralf Paganel. When a civil war known as "The Anarchy" broke out in 1135, Ralf sided with Empress Matilda, the daughter of Henry I. As a result of this, Dudley Castle was laid under siege by her cousin, King Stephen, in 1138. Stephen failed to take the well-fortified Castle, so he took his temper out on the surrounding area and people, before marching off to attack and destroy Shrewsbury Castle. 
 
 Dudley Castle passed through marriage to the de Somery family. In 1264 Roger de Somery II supported King Henry III during another Barons' revolt and was granted permission to refortify the Castle as a reward. Work began on a new Tower or Keep, a Gatehouse, and a set of defensive walls. Many of the subsequent de Somerys lived rather short lives and it is believed that the majority of this work was completed by the last of the name, John de Somery, the bad baron of Dudley Castle, who was accused of raising money for the building of the Castle through murder and robbery in the neighbouring villages. John de Somery's son predeceased him and he died without male heirs in 1321
 The end of the castle came in 1750 when a devastating fire swept through the remains. Rumour had it that the local militia kept their gunpowder in the castle, and, for fear of explosions, nothing was done to put out the fire, so Dudley Castle simply became "A Romantic Ruin".
[ http://www.dudleycastle.org.uk/history.html]






 





 
















 
 































 





















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