Alberbury Castle

Alberbury Castle is in the village of Alberbury, some nine miles north-west of Shrewsbury, Shropshire and very close to the border with Wales. The building has been constructed from locally available red sandstone. It is a Grade II listed building.[1][2]

Alberbury Castle
Alberbury, Shropshire, England
Alberbury Castle
Alberbury Castle
Coordinates52.7234°N 2.9520°W / 52.7234; -2.9520
Grid referencegrid reference SJ358144
Site information
ConditionRuined
Site history
MaterialsStone

Its origins are uncertain but it was probably built in the 13th century by Fulk FitzWarin during the reign of Richard I.[3] According to Sir William Dugdale, the Alberbury was given to Guarine de Metz, the ancestor of FitzWarin family, by William the Conqueror. However, this account is disputed by the Domesday book.[4]

The main purpose of its construction appears to have been as a barrier to stop the Welsh onslaught and to retain control of the passes along the river Severn. According to sources, the castle was razed by Llewellyn the Great in 1223, only to be rebuilt three years later in 1226, this time with a stone wall surrounding the bailey. A few years later, the Sheriff of Shropshire, Thomas Corbet of Caus, took advantage of a hasty utterance of Fulk FitzWarin, and had him ejected from the castle and took over his lands citing FitzWarin's words as a renunciation of fealty. However, Fitzwarin was able to retake his lands and his manor through the law. The FitzWarin family retained possession of the castle, although they moved their seat of power to Wittington after they secured it as a stronghold, till the mid fourteenth century, when it may have been abandoned.[5][6][7][8][9]

An abbey adjoining the castle, with a single high tower with a triangular roof, that may have been useful as an outpost or a look out, still exists today. It was founded by the FritzWarin family during the reign of Henry I. It housed the Benedictines of Grammont from France. They may have been Dominicans, as they called their religion Albus Monasterium ("White Monastery" or "White Minster").[10][11]

The castle has had a number of owners over the years. In 1842, the ruins of the castle were owned by Sir Baldwin Leighton according to Charles Hulbert.[12] It's not currently possible to visit the castle as it lies on private land.

See also

Notes
  1. "Images of England: Alberbury Castle". English Heritage. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
  2. Kinross, John (15 September 2015). Castles of the Marches. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-4801-9.
  3. Nicholson, George (1840). The Cambrian traveller's guide, and pocket companion [by G. Nicholson].
  4. bookseller), Edward Edwards (Printer and (1858). Notes on the Castellated Structures of Shropshire. Edward Edwards, Printer and Bookseller.
  5. Fry, Plantagenet Somerset (1980). The David & Charles Book of Castles. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 176. ISBN 0-7153-7976-3.
  6. Duckers, Peter; Duckers, Anne (2006). Castles of Shropshire. Tempus.
  7. "Castles in Shropshire". Secret Shropshire. Archived from the original on 9 January 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
  8. Kinross, John (15 September 2015). Castles of the Marches. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-4801-9.
  9. Timmins, H. Thornhill (1899). Nooks and Corners of Shropshire. Elliot Stock. p. 234. Alberbury Castle.
  10. bookseller), Edward Edwards (Printer and (1858). Notes on the Castellated Structures of Shropshire. Edward Edwards, Printer and Bookseller.
  11. Nicholson, George (1840). The Cambrian traveller's guide, and pocket companion [by G. Nicholson].
  12. Hulbert, Charles (1852). Memoirs of seventy years of an eventful life.
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