Broughton Castle
Encyclopedia
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
located in the village of Broughton
Broughton, Oxfordshire
Broughton is a village and civil parish in northern Oxfordshire, England, about southwest of Banbury.Broughton's Church of England Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin was built in about 1300 in a style that is transitional from Early English to Decorated Gothic...
which is about two miles south-west of Banbury
Banbury
Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on the B4035 road .
It was built as a manor house by Sir John de Broughton in 1300 at a location where the confluence of three streams created a natural site for a moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
ed manor. The house was sold in 1377 to William of Wykeham
William of Wykeham
William of Wykeham was Bishop of Winchester, Chancellor of England, founder of Winchester College, New College, Oxford, New College School, Oxford, and builder of a large part of Windsor Castle.-Life:...
, Bishop of Winchester
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
. The original house was crenellated by Sir Thomas Wykeham in 1406. In 1451 it passed by inheritance to the Fiennes family
Fiennes
Fiennes may refer to:*Bessie Fiennes, Baroness Clinton, better known as Bessie Blount, mistress of Henry VIII of England and mother of his son, Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset*James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele...
(Barons Saye and Sele
Baron Saye and Sele
Baron Saye and Sele is a title in the Peerage of England. It is thought to have been created by letters patent in 1447 for James Fiennes for his services in the Hundred Years' War. The patent creating the original barony was lost, so it was assumed that the barony was created by writ, meaning that...
). Beginning in 1550 Richard Fiennes transformed the medieval manor into a house in the Tudor style
Tudor architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
.
In the 17th century William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele
William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele
William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele was born at the family home of Broughton Castle near Banbury, in Oxfordshire. He was the only son of Richard Fiennes, seventh Baron Saye and Sele...
was one of the leading activists against Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
. He raised troops to fight against the king at the inconclusive Battle of Edgehill
Battle of Edgehill
The Battle of Edgehill was the first pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642....
in 1642. Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
troops later besieged
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
the castle, overcoming the defenders and occupying the castle for a time.
Broughton fell into decay in the 19th century, but was eventually rescued by Frederick Fiennes, 16th Lord Saye and Sele, who brought in the prominent Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
architect Sir George Gilbert Scott
George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses...
.
It is still the home of the Fiennes family and currently lived in by the 21st Baron and his wife
Nathaniel Fiennes, 21st Baron Saye and Sele
Nathaniel Thomas Allen Fiennes, 21st Baron Saye and Sele is a British nobleman and businessman.Nathaniel Thomas Allen Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born on 22 September 1920, the son of Ivo Murray Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, later 20th Baron Saye and Sele, whom he succeeded in 1968.Despite a family...
.
Filming
Parts of the films Oxford BluesOxford Blues
Oxford Blues is a 1984 film written and directed by Robert Boris and starred Rob Lowe, Ally Sheedy and Amanda Pays. It is a remake of the 1938 MGM film A Yank at Oxford.-Plot:...
(1984),The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a play and adventure novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, set during the Reign of Terror following the start of the French Revolution. The story is a precursor to the "disguised superhero" tales such as Zorro and Batman....
(1982), Three Men and a Little Lady (1990), The Madness of King George
The Madness of King George
The Madness of King George is a 1994 film directed by Nicholas Hytner and adapted by Alan Bennett from his own play, The Madness of George III. It tells the true story of George III's deteriorating mental health, and his equally declining relationship with his son, the Prince of Wales, particularly...
(1994) and Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard....
(1998) were shot in the castle. TV filming for parts of Elizabeth The Virgin Queen, Friends and Crocodiles
Friends and Crocodiles
Friends and Crocodiles is a one-off British television drama production, written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff and first broadcast on BBC One on 15 January 2006.-Overview:...
, 1975 Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show
Morecambe and Wise
Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, usually referred to as Morecambe and Wise, or Eric and Ernie, were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984...
and the titles of Noel's House Party
Noel's House Party
Noel's House Party was a BBC television light entertainment show hosted by Noel Edmonds that was broadcast live on Saturday evenings throughout the 1990s. It was set in a large house in the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom, leading to much innuendo. The show was broadcast during the...
also took place there. The castle has been used as the location for several other films and TV programmes.
Concerts
In August 1981, the electric folkElectric folk
Electric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...
band Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
held their annual reunion concert at Broughton Castle, rather than the usual Cropredy
Cropredy
Cropredy is a village and civil parish on the River Cherwell, north of Banbury in Oxfordshire.-Early history:The village has Anglo-Saxon origins and is recorded in the Domesday Book...
location. The concert was recorded, and released on the album Moat on the Ledge
Moat on the Ledge
Moat on the Ledge: Live at Broughton Castle, August '81 is a live folk rock album by Fairport Convention. The album was produced by Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg....
(1982).
Fiction
Published in April 2009, The Music Room is a novel by William FiennesWilliam Fiennes (author)
William Fiennes is a British author.Fiennes was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford, Eton College, and Oxford University, where he received both undergraduate and graduate degrees...
. This fictionalized memoir of his childhood and his epileptic brother is set in (the never identified) Broughton Castle. It has been described as "a beautiful poem of a tribute to his family, his parents, the magical, moated castle that was his home".