Thorpe Waterville Castle
Encyclopedia
Thorpe Waterville Castle was a medieval fortified manor house
near Thorpe Waterville
, Northamptonshire
, England.
, the bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, around 1300. The wood for the castle was stolen by Langton from the woods of a nearby abbey. The result was a luxurious fortified home. While owned by Lord Lovell
, the castle was successfully besieged in early 1461 during the Wars of the Roses
.
The hall of the castle was later converted into a barn, and still survives in this form, complete with a distinctive 14th-century chimney. Today, the remains of castle have scheduled monument status and a grade I listed building.
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...
near Thorpe Waterville
Thorpe Waterville
Thorpe Waterville is a village in the English county of Northamptonshire. It is combined with Achurch to form the ecclesiastical parish of 'Thorpe Achurch'; in turn this is added to another combined parish, Lilford-cum-Wigsthorpe, to form the civil parish of Lilford-cum-Wigsthorpe and Thorpe Achurch...
, Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, England.
Details
Thorpe Waterville Castle was built by Walter LangtonWalter Langton
Walter Langton was a bishop of Coventry and Lichfield and treasurer of England.He was probably a native of Langton West in Leicestershire....
, the bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, around 1300. The wood for the castle was stolen by Langton from the woods of a nearby abbey. The result was a luxurious fortified home. While owned by Lord Lovell
Francis Lovell, 1st Viscount Lovell
Francis Lovell, 9th Baron Lovell, 6th Baron Holand, later 1st Viscount Lovell was an English nobleman. He probably knew the later King Richard III of England from a young age, and was to become his lifelong friend and staunch ally....
, the castle was successfully besieged in early 1461 during the Wars of the Roses
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...
.
The hall of the castle was later converted into a barn, and still survives in this form, complete with a distinctive 14th-century chimney. Today, the remains of castle have scheduled monument status and a grade I listed building.