Betchworth Castle
Encyclopedia
Brockham
Brockham is a village in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England. 'Broc-ham' is so called from the Anglo Saxon meaning 'river meadow by the brook' and is first recorded in 1241. It is often mistakenly believed that there is an association with badgers but this is a modern affectation from the...
, built on a sandstone spur overlooking the western (left) bank of the River Mole, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The ruin is in Betchworth
Betchworth
Betchworth is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England. The village lies on the north bank of the River Mole, off the A25 road, about three miles east of Dorking and three miles west of Reigate. The village lay within the Reigate hundred.It was home to the now...
Park Golf Course, off Castle Gardens, about 4 miles (6 km) west of Reigate
Reigate
Reigate is a historic market town in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs, and in the London commuter belt. It is one of the main constituents of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead...
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History
Betchworth (or Beechworth etc) CastleCastle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
was the seat of the manor West Betchworth and was held by Richard de Tonbridge at the time of the Domesday Survey. It started as an earthwork fortress built by Robert Fitz Gilbert in the 11th century. It was turned into a stone castle in 1379 by Sir John FitzAlan
John FitzAlan, 1st Baron Arundel
John FitzAlan , 1st Baron Arundel was a Lord Marshal or Marshal of England.- Lineage :He was born in Etchingham, Sussex, England to Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel and his second wife Eleanor of Lancaster...
. The castle or fortified house was rebuilt by Sir Thomas Browne in the 15th century.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, people had little practical use for castles any more, and this one was outshone by a newer, bigger house in the larger grounds. Some of it was demolished to reuse the building material elsewhere. Without a permanent tenant, the rest of it gradually fell into ruin, and was treated as a folly.