Donnington Castle

Donnington Castle[1] is a ruined medieval castle, situated in the small village of Donnington, just north of the town of Newbury in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Sir Richard Abberbury the Elder in 1386 and was bought by Thomas Chaucer before the castle was taken under royal control during the Tudor period. During the First English Civil War the castle was held by the royalist Sir John Boys and withstood an 18-month siege; after the garrison eventually surrendered, Parliament voted to demolish Donnington Castle in 1646. Only the gatehouse survives. The site is under the care of English Heritage and is protected from unauthorised change as a scheduled ancient monument.

Not to be confused with Donington Castle or Castle Donington.
Donnington Castle
Near Donnington, Berkshire in England
Ruins of Donnington Castle
Donnington Castle
Shown within Berkshire
Coordinates51°25′10″N 001°20′15″W
grid reference SU46106914
Site information
OwnerEnglish Heritage
ConditionRuins
Site history
Built1386 (1386)
Built bySir Richard Abberbury the Elder
In use1386-1646 (1646)

History
The striking twin-towered gatehouse

The manor of Donnington had been owned by the Adderbury family since 1292, Donnington Castle was built by its original owner, Sir Richard Abberbury the Elder, under a licence granted by Richard II in 1386. The surviving castle gatehouse dates from this time. In 1398, the castle was sold to Thomas Chaucer, son of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer, as a residence for his daughter Alice, who later became Duchess of Suffolk. The Duke of Suffolk William De La Pole made Donnington his occasional residence, and considerably enlarged the buildings.[2]

This family later fell out with the Tudor monarchs, and the castle became a royal property.[3] In 1514 it was given to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Though Brandon appears to have stayed at the Donnington Castle in 1516, by the time the castle and manor returned to the Crown in 1535 the structure was in a state of decay.[4] Both King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I visited Donnington Castle, in 1539 and 1568 respectively.[3]

In 1590 Elizabeth I granted keepership to Elizabeth Cooke (Lady Russell), the first woman to hold such a title in England.[5] In 1600, Elizabeth I gave the castle and surrounding manor to Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham.[4] By the time the English Civil War broke out in 1643, the castle was owned by the Parliamentarian John Packer family but after the First Battle of Newbury[6] it was taken for the King, Charles I, and held by Sir John Boys. They quickly enhanced the castle's defences by adding earthworks in a star shape to provide gun emplacements.[3] Parliamentarians laid siege to the castle in October 1644 and the garrison held out for 18 months. With permission from the king, Boys surrendered the castle in April 1646 and was allowed to leave with all his men.[3][4]

In 1646 Parliament voted to demolish the castle; only the gatehouse was left standing though the 17th-century earthworks can still be seen. The castle is now in the care of English Heritage and is a scheduled ancient monument number 233041.[3]

Donnington Castle 2020

The castle stayed in the Packer family until the mid 18th century, when Robert Packer married Mary Winchcombe, and the property passed into the Winchcombe family tree. From 1833 to 1881 the manor and castle was owned by Winchcombe Henry Howard Hartley,

Layout
1825 plan showing the 14th‑century Donnington Castle surrounded by the 17th‑century star-shaped defences. The demolished parts of the castle are shown as unfilled lines, while the parts extant in 1825 are in thick black.

Donnington Castle was originally built in a roughly rectangular form, though the west facade projected outwards irregularly.[4] It was enclosed by a curtain wall, with a round tower at each of the four corners. Roughly halfway along the two walls running from west to east were two square towers. The courtyard enclosed by the curtain walls would probably have contained a hall, kitchens, and accommodation for guests.[3] Measured from the inner sides of the curtain walls, the courtyard measured 67 feet (20 m) north to south and 108 ft (33 m) east to west.[4]

During the Civil War star-shaped defences were built around the castle to facilitate gun emplacements. Only the gatehouse, crested by battlements, survived the castle's destruction in 1646;[3] standing three storeys high, it measures 17.5 by 11.75 feet (5.33 by 3.58 m) internally.[4] Modern walls standing 0.5 metres (1 ft 8 in) high outline the original layout of the demolished castle. The star-shaped earthworks added during the Civil War are still visible, surviving to a height of 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in).[3]

  • Print by William Byrne, 1778
  • Waste disposal
  • Aerial plan view photo of Donnington Castle, 2020
  • Plan of the last Skirmish at Donnington Castle during the First English Civil War
  • Distant view of the castle, 2017

References
  1. "The siege of Donnington Castle". www.newburyhistory.co.uk.
  2. A series of views of the most interesting remains of ancient castles of England and Wales - William Woolnoth et al. 1823
  3. "Donnington Castle Monument No 233041". Pastscape. English Heritage. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  4. "Shaw-cum-Donnington: Castle". A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 4. Victoria County History. 1924. pp. 87–97. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  5. Laoutaris, Chris (2015). Shakespeare and the Countess. Penguin. ISBN 9780241960226.
  6. "First Battle of Newbury 1643". www.newburyhistory.co.uk.

See also
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