Somerton Castle Earthworks
Photo © Matthew Smith, 1 October 2005
Somerton Castle, Lincolnshire
Photo © Richard Croft, 22 November 2008
Somerton Castle, Lincolnshire
Photo © Richard Croft, 22 November 2008
Somerton Castle Earthworks Photo © Matthew Smith, 1 October 2005 |
Somerton Castle, Lincolnshire Photo © Richard Croft, 22 November 2008 |
Somerton Castle, Lincolnshire Photo © Richard Croft, 22 November 2008 |
Somerton Castle is located approximately one mile west of the hamlet of Boothby Graffoe in Lincolnshire, England.
The castle was built in the latter part of the 13th century by Antony Bek, the Bishop of Durham (Davis 2006). In 1309 Bek gave the castle as a gift to King Edward II (Platts 1985 p46). The castle was not well-maintained and was in disrepair by the 15th century (Platts 1985 p46) and was in ruins by 1601 (Davis 2006).
King John II of France was imprisoned at the castle between 1359 and 1360.
Three towers, and some portions of other walls, remained standing and have been incorporated into the large and secluded house which currently occupies the site. Some prominent and visible earthworks still enclose the site, including parts of the moat and other ditches.
The castle has been recognised as an important building and has been classified as a Grade 1 listed building.
Among the Boothby Graffoe deeds are a packet relating to part of the Somerton Castle estate originally purchased by Isaac Marfleet Battle from Sir Montague Cholmeley, Baronet in 1812, and which passed to several of his descendants. Cyril E. Marfleet Battle purchased some of this land in 1877 and his trustees acquired further land in Boothby Graffoe in 1909 from the trustees of Marfleet Battle. The latter purchase included 106 acres in Bassingham, which Isaac Marfleet Battle in conjunction with Edward Smith Godfrey, of Newark, banker, had acquired from Sir Cecil Wray in 1802.
The manor of Boothby Graffoe was purchased by Matthew Lamb, Earl Melbourne, of Lincoln’s Inn in 1739 (Battersby I /30). A number of mortgages were raised by his son Peniston, Viscount Melbourne, among them £4,000 by creating an annuity of £400 in 1809. This was repurchased in 1819 for £3,800 and this method of obtaining cash suggests that the family fortunes were at a very low ebb (29/l). Repayment on the remainder was made in 1871-2 when Earl Cowper, Peniston Lamb’s grandson, sold the manor and 870 acres to Cyril. E. Marfleet Battle for a total of £69,591. (2g/12-16).
Most of Wikipedia's text and many of its images are licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC BY-SA)
