114-569: Stokesay Castle is one of the finest surviving fortified manor houses in England, and situated at Stokesay in Shropshire . It was largely built in its present form in the late 13th century by Laurence of Ludlow , on the earlier castle (some of which still survives) founded by its original owners the de Lacy family, from whom it passed to their de Verdun heirs, who retained feudal overlordship of Stokesay until at least 1317. Laurence 'of' Ludlow
228-642: A coup de main perpetrated by an armed band, many of which roamed the countryside during the troubled times of the Hundred Years War and the French wars of religion ; but these fortified manor houses could not have withstood a lengthy siege undertaken by a regular army equipped with (siege) engines or heavy artillery. The German equivalent of a manor house is a Gutshaus (or Gut , Gutshof , Rittergut , Landgut or Bauerngut ). Also Herrenhaus and Domäne are common terms. Schloss (pl. Schlösser)
342-724: A ridderhofstad ( Utrecht ), a stins or state ( Friesland ), or a havezate ( Drente , Overijssel and Gelderland ). Some of these buildings were fortified. A number of castles associated with the nobility are found in the country. In Dutch, a building like this was called a kasteel , a slot , a burcht or (in Groningen ) a borg . During the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century, merchants and regents looking for ways to spend their wealth bought country estates and built grand new homes, often just for summer use. Some purchased existing manor houses and castles from
456-419: A steward or seneschal to act as their deputy in such matters and to preside at the manorial courts of his different manorial properties. The day-to-day administration was carried out by a resident official in authority at each manor, who in England was called a bailiff , or reeve . Although not typically built with strong fortifications as were castles , many manor-houses were fortified , which required
570-520: A "personal discovery of a sense of historical relationship and event" around the castle. Against this background, an extensive programme of restoration work was carried out between August 1986 and December 1989. In the 21st century, Stokesay Castle continues to be operated by English Heritage as a tourist attraction, receiving 39,218 visitors in 2010. British Airways , in conjunction with English Heritage, named their last Boeing 757 aircraft Stokesay Castle in 2010 for its final month of flying. The castle
684-440: A "picturesque residence" than a fortification. Among its weaknesses were the positioning of its gatehouse, on the wrong side of the castle, facing away from the road, and the huge windows in the hall, reaching down to the ground and making access relatively easy to any intruder. Indeed, this vulnerability may have been intentional. Its builder Laurence was a newly moneyed member of the upper class, and he may not have wanted to erect
798-466: A 13th-century wooden-beamed ceiling, and 17th-century carved figures ornament the gatehouse and the solar. The castle was never intended to be a serious military fortification, but its style was intended to echo the much larger castles being built by Edward I in North Wales . Originally designed as a prestigious, secure, comfortable home, the castle has changed very little since the 13th century, and
912-462: A Royalist force led by Sir Michael Woodhouse attempted to recapture the castle, now garrisoned by Parliament. The counter-attack was unsuccessful, ending in the rout of the Royalist forces in a skirmish at the nearby village of Wistanstow . Unlike many castles in England which were deliberately seriously damaged, or slighted , to put them beyond military use, Stokesay escaped substantial harm after
1026-422: A cellar, and would have probably acted as the living space for Laurence of Ludlow when he first moved into the castle. The solar room itself is on the first floor, and is reached by external steps. The wood panelling and carved wooden fireplace are of 17th-century origin, probably from around 1640. This woodwork would have originally been brightly painted, and included spy-holes so that the hall could be observed from
1140-653: A conflict with Meiler Fitzhenry , Justiciar of Ireland, and de Lacy's feudal tenants for lands in Meath; Fitzhenry had seized Limerick. King John summoned de Lacy to appear before him in England in April 1207. After de Lacy's brother Hugh de Lacy, 1st Earl of Ulster , had taken Fitzhenry prisoner, John in March 1208 acquiesced in giving Walter de Lacy a new charter for his lands in Meath. Upon his return to Ireland later in 1208, de Lacy may have acted as Justiciar of Ireland in lieu of
1254-486: A countryside house closer to the urban core. Initially, "quinta" (fifth) designated the 1/5 part of the production that the lessee (called "quintero") paid to the lessor (owner of the land), but lately the term was applied to the whole property. This term is also very common in the former Spanish colonies. Alqueria in Al-Andalus made reference to small rural communities that were located near cities ( medinas ). Since
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#17327761254961368-465: A diminutive of cohors , meaning ' courtyard '. They are often isolated structures associated with a large family farming or livestock operation in the vast and empty adjoining lands. It would usually include a large house, together with accessory buildings such as workers' quarters, sheds to house livestock, granaries, oil mills , barns and often a wall enclosing a courtyard. The master of the cortijo or "señorito" would usually live with his family in
1482-741: A few of which are still held within the original families. Unlike in Europe, the United States did not create a native architectural style common to manor houses. A typical architectural style used for American manor-style homes in the mid-Atlantic region is Georgian architecture although a homegrown variant of Georgian did emerge in the late 1700s called Federal architecture . Other styles borrowed from Europe include Châteauesque with Biltmore Estate being an example, Tudor Revival architecture see Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park , and Neoclassical architecture with Monticello being
1596-481: A fortification that would have threatened the established Marcher Lords in the region. Nonetheless, Stokesay Castle was intended to have a dramatic, military appearance, echoing the castles then being built by Edward I in North Wales. Visitors would have approached the castle across a causeway, with an excellent view of the south tower, potentially framed by and reflected in the water-filled moat. The south tower
1710-407: A kitchen, bakehouse and storerooms, which were pulled down around 1800. The castle was surrounded by a moat, between 15 feet (4.6 m) and 25 feet (7.6 m) across, although it is uncertain whether this was originally a dry moat, as it is in the 21st century, or water-filled from the pond and nearby stream. The spoil from digging out the moat was used to raise the height of the courtyard. Beyond
1824-600: A latrine. In addition to having both lower and upper halls, many French manor houses also had partly fortified gateways, watchtowers, and enclosing walls that were fitted with arrow or gun loops for added protection. Some larger 16th-century manors, such as the Château de Kerjean in Finistère , Brittany, were even outfitted with ditches and fore-works that included gun platforms for cannons. These defensive arrangements allowed maisons-fortes and rural manors to be safe from
1938-607: A prominent example. In the Antebellum South , many plantation houses were built in Greek Revival architecture style. Virginia House is a former 16th-entury English manor house blending three romantic English Tudor designs. In 1925, it was relocated to Richmond, Virginia from main sections dating from the 1620 remodeling of a priory in Warwickshire, England and reconstructed on a hillside overlooking
2052-788: A result, this limited the development of a feudal or manorial land-owning system to just a few regions such as Tidewater and Piedmont Virginia, the Carolina Low Country , the Mississippi Delta , and the Hudson River Valley in the early years of the republic. Today, relics of early manorial life in the early United States are found in a few places such as the Eastern Shore of Maryland with examples such as Wye Hall and Hope House (Easton, Maryland) , Virginia at Monticello and Westover Plantation ,
2166-443: A royal licence to crenellate . They were often enclosed within walls or ditches which often also included agricultural buildings. Arranged for defence against roaming bands of robbers and thieves, in days long before police, they were often surrounded by a moat with a drawbridge , and were equipped with gatehouses and watchtowers , but not, as for castles, with a keep , large towers or lofty curtain walls designed to withstand
2280-480: A serious military fortification. As long ago as 1787, the antiquarian Francis Grose observed that it was "a castellated mansion rather than a castle of strength", and more recently the historian Nigel Pounds has described the castle as forming "a lightly fortified home", providing security but not intended to resist a military attack. The historian Henry Summerson describes its military features as "superficial", and Oliver Creighton characterises Stokesay as being more of
2394-562: A siege. The primary feature of the manor house was its great hall , to which subsidiary apartments were added as the lessening of feudal warfare permitted more peaceful domestic life. By the beginning of the 16th century, manor houses as well as small castles began to acquire the character and amenities of the residences of country gentlemen, and many defensive elements were dispensed with, for example Sutton Place in Surrey , c. 1521 . A late 16th-century transformation produced many of
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#17327761254962508-455: A somewhat romanticised approach to the analysis of the castle's history and architecture. The castle had become a popular sight for tourists and artists by the 1870s and the gatehouse was fitted out to form a house for a caretaker to oversee the property. Following the work, the castle was in good condition once again by the late 1880s. Further repairs to Stokesay Castle were required in 1902, carried out by Allcroft's heir, Herbert, with help from
2622-508: A supporter of King Charles I . After the Royalist war effort collapsed in 1645, Parliamentary forces besieged the castle in June and quickly forced its garrison to surrender. Parliament ordered the property to be slighted , but only minor damage was done to the walls, allowing Stokesay to continue to be used as a house by the Baldwyn family until the end of the 17th century. In the 18th century
2736-445: A tourist attraction, receiving 39,218 visitors in 2010. Architecturally, Stokesay Castle is "one of the best-preserved medieval fortified manor houses in England", according to historian Henry Summerson. The castle comprises a walled, moated enclosure, with an entrance way through a 17th-century timber and plaster gatehouse . Inside, the courtyard faces a stone hall and solar block, protected by two stone towers. The hall features
2850-534: A two-story building, while the accessory structures were for the labourers and their families —also known as "cortijeros" . Before the founding of the United States, colonial powers such as Britain, France and the Netherlands made land grants to favored individuals in the original colonies that evolved into large agricultural estates that resembled the manors familiar to Europeans. Founding fathers such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were
2964-441: A well. The first floor, which formed the original entrance to the tower, contains a 17th-century fireplace, reusing the original 13th-century chimney. The second floor has been subdivided in the past, but has been restored to form a single chamber, as it would have been when first built. The roof of the south tower provides views of the surrounding landscape; in the 13th-century protective wooden mantlets would have been fitted into
3078-487: A year in income. Elizabeth's son, William , spent little time at Stokesay and by the 1640s had leased it out to Charles Baldwyn, and his son Samuel. He rebuilt the gatehouse during 1640 and 1641, however, at a cost of around £533. In 1642 the English Civil War broke out between the supporters of King Charles I and Parliament . A Royalist supporter, William spent the war years at Elizabeth Stuart 's court at
3192-473: Is a rare, surviving example of a near complete set of medieval buildings. English Heritage has minimised the amount of interpretative material displayed at the property and kept the castle largely unfurnished. Stokesay took its name from the Anglo-Saxon word stoches , meaning cattle farm, and the surname of the de Says family, who had held the land from the beginning of the 12th century onwards. Stokesay
3306-510: Is a term used in the Portuguese language -speaking world, which is applied variously to manors homes or to estates as a whole. Casa solariega is the catch-all name for manor houses in Spain. They were the places where heads of noble families resided. Those houses receive a different name depending on the geographical region of Spain where they are located, the noble rank of the owner family,
3420-597: Is another German word for a building similar to manor house, stately home , château or palace . Other terms used in German are Burg ( castle ), Festung ( fort /fortress) and Palais / Palast ( palace ). German language uses terms like Schloss or Gutshaus for places that functioned as the administrative center of a manor. Gut(shaus) implies a smaller ensemble of buildings within a more agricultural setting, usually owned by lower-ranking landed gentry whereas Schloss describes more representative and larger places. During
3534-423: Is extremely unusual. Historian Henry Summerson considers it "one of the best-preserved medieval fortified manor houses in England". The gatehouse is a two-storeyed, 17th-century building with exposed timber and plasterwork, constructed in a distinctively local Shropshire style. It features elaborate wooden carvings on the exterior and interior doorways, including angels , the biblical characters of Adam , Eve and
Stokesay Castle - Misplaced Pages Continue
3648-492: Is protected under UK law as a Grade I listed building and as a scheduled monument . Stokesay Castle was built on a patch of slightly rising ground in the basin of the River Onny . It took the form of a solar block and hall attached to a northern and southern tower; this combination of hall and tower existed elsewhere in England in the 13th century, particularly in northern England. A crenellated curtain wall, destroyed in
3762-1019: The James River in Windsor Farms . Virginia House is now owned and operated by the Virginia Historical Society . The almost eight acres of gardens and grounds on which Virginia House rests were designed by Charles Gillette . The house has been preserved and is largely as it was when the Weddells lived there. Virginia House is on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Richmond, Virginia . [REDACTED] The dictionary definition of manor house at Wiktionary [REDACTED] Media related to Manor houses at Wikimedia Commons Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath Walter de Lacy ( c. 1172 – 1241)
3876-627: The Napoleonic Code in France, under which such practices are illegal, greatly upset this tradition in the North. Although the Basques in the north chose to be "creative" with the new laws, it overall resulted in the breakup and ultimate financial ruin of many baserris. In practice the tradition of not breaking up baserris meant that the remaining children had to marry into another baserri, stay on
3990-550: The Serpent from the Garden of Eden , as well as dragons and other nude figures. It was designed as essentially an ornamental building, with little defensive value. The south tower forms an unequal pentagon in shape, and has three storeys with thick walls. The walls were built to contain the stairs and garderobes , the unevenly positioned empty spaces weakening the structure, and this meant that two large buttresses had to be added to
4104-603: The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings . The Allcroft family faced increasing financial difficulty in the 20th century and the castle was formally opened for visitors in 1908, with much of the revenue reinvested in the property, but funds for repairs remained in short supply. By the 1930s the Allcroft estate was in serious financial difficulties, and the payment of two sets of death duties in 1946 and 1950 added to
4218-478: The Utrecht Hill Ridge (Utrechtse Heuvelrug) and the area around Arnhem . Today there is a tendency to group these grand buildings together in the category of "castles". There are many castles and buitenplaatsen in all twelve provinces. A larger-than-average home is today called a villa or a herenhuis, but despite the grand name this is not the same as a manor house. The architectural form of
4332-422: The landed gentry . Manor houses were sometimes fortified , albeit not as fortified as castles, but this was often more for show than for defence. They existed in most European countries where feudalism was present. The lord of the manor may have held several properties within a county or, for example in the case of a feudal baron , spread across a kingdom, which he occupied only on occasional visits. Even so,
4446-560: The 15th century it makes reference to a farmhouse, with an agricultural farm , typical of Levante and the southeastern Spanish , mainly in Granada and Valencia . A pazo is a type of grand old house found in Galicia . A pazo is usually located in the countryside and the former residence of an important nobleman or other important individual. They were of crucial importance to the rural and monastic communities around them. The pazo
4560-408: The 17th century, enclosed a courtyard, with a gatehouse - probably originally constructed from stone, rebuilt in timber and plaster around 1640 - controlling the entrance. The wall would have reached 34 feet (10 m) high measured from the base of the moat. The courtyard, around 150 feet (46 m) by 125 feet (38 m), contained additional buildings during the castle's history, probably including
4674-567: The 18th century, some of these manor houses became local centers of culture where the local gentry, sometimes inspired by what they had experienced during their grand tour , was mimicking the lifestyle of the higher nobility, creating lavish parks, art collections or showed an interest in science and research. There are many historical manor houses throughout the Netherlands . Some have been converted into museums, hotels, conference centres, etc. Some are located on estates and in parks. Many of
Stokesay Castle - Misplaced Pages Continue
4788-516: The Baldwyns rented the castle out for a range of agricultural and manufacturing purposes. It fell into disrepair, and the antiquarian John Britton noted during his visit in 1813 that it had been "abandoned to neglect, and rapidly advancing to ruin". Restoration work was carried out in the 1830s and 1850s by William Craven , the second Earl of Craven. In 1869 the Craven estate, then heavily in debt,
4902-663: The Hague , and gave large sums of money to the King's war effort. William installed a garrison in the castle, where the Baldwins were also strong Royalists, and, as the conflict progressed, the county of Shropshire became increasingly Royalist in sympathies. Despite this, by late 1644 bands of vigilante clubmen had risen up in Shropshire, complaining about the activities of Royalist forces in the region, and demanding, among other things,
5016-664: The Hudson River Valley of New York at Clermont State Historic Site or along the Mississippi such as Lansdowne (Natchez, Mississippi) . Over time, these large estates were usually subdivided as they became economically unsustainable and are now a fraction of their historical extent. In the southern states, the demise of plantation slavery after the Civil War gave rise to a sharecropping agricultural economy that had similarities to European serfdom and lasted into
5130-554: The King . Stokesay Castle was largely built in its present form during the 1280s and 1290s in the village of Stokesay by Laurence de Ludlow, who was a very wealthy wool merchant. By chance there may have been earlier connections between Laurence de Ludlow and the de Verduns, which may add to the context within which he became their tenant. Laurence de Ludlow's wife was Agnes de Audley, daughter of James de Audley , Justiciar of Ireland and Sheriff of Staffordshire and Shropshire. James de Audley's family had been tenants and close associates of
5244-498: The Monasteries under King Henry VIII resulted in many former monastical properties being sold to the King's favourites, who then converted them into private country houses, examples being Woburn Abbey , Forde Abbey , Nostell Priory and many other mansions with the suffix Abbey or Priory to their name. During the second half of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603) and under her successor King James I (1603–1625)
5358-750: The Polish manor house ( Polish : dwór or dworek ) evolved around the late Polish Renaissance period and continued until the Second World War, which, together with the communist takeover of Poland, spelled the end of the nobility in Poland . A 1944 decree nationalized most mansions as property of the nobles, but few were adapted to other purposes. Many slowly fell into ruin over the next few decades. Poland inherited many German-style manor houses ( Gutshäuser ) after parts of eastern Germany were taken over by Poland after World War II . In Portugal , it
5472-486: The United States that includes a manor-type house is Gardiners Island , a private island that has been in the same family since the 17th century and contains a Georgian architecture house. Today, some historically and architecturally significant manor houses in the United States are museums. However, many still function as private residences, including many of the colonial-era manor houses found in Maryland and Virginia
5586-737: The Vernon family by marriage. It appears that in 1317, Stokesay was still being held by the Ludlows under the de Verduns. This is shown by the Inquest Post Mortem of Theobald II de Verdun (son of Theobald I de Verdun), taken in March of that year, which gives the Heirs of Sir William de Lodlowe as holding of the deceased a knight's-fee in Southstoke ('north Stoke' was one of the de Verdun's other manors in Shropshire, Stoke-on-Tern). It
5700-537: The administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system ; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts , communal meals with manorial tenants and great banquets. The term is today loosely (though erroneously) applied to various English country houses , mostly at the smaller end of the spectrum, sometimes dating from the Late Middle Ages , which currently or formerly house
5814-729: The alcázars were built between the 8th and 15th centuries. Many cities in Spain have its alcázar. Palaces built in the Moorish style after the expulsion of the Moors from Spain are often referred to as alcazars as well. Hacienda is landed estates of significant size located in the south of Spain ( Andalusia ). They were also very common in the former Spanish colonies . Some haciendas were plantations , mines or factories . Many haciendas combined these productive activities. They were developed as profit-making, economic enterprises linked to regional or international markets. The owner of an hacienda
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#17327761254965928-668: The bounds of the manor. In some instances they needed to be able to hold meetings of the Manorial court . Nearly every large medieval manor house had its own deer-park adjoining, imparked (i.e. enclosed) by royal licence, which served primarily as a store of food in the form of venison . Within these licensed parks deer could not be hunted by royalty (with its huge travelling entourage which needed to be fed and entertained), nor by neighbouring land-owners nor by any other persons. Before around 1600, larger houses were usually fortified, generally for true defensive purposes but increasingly, as
6042-437: The brewing revolt that would lead to Magna Carta , John began negotiations to restore de Lacy to his lands in Meath in the summer of 1215 . De Lacy was Sheriff of Herefordshire from 1218 to 1222. In 1230 he joined with Geoffrey de Marisco and Richard Mór de Burgh to subdue Aedh mac Ruaidri Ó Conchobair , King of Connacht . He was a benefactor to the abbeys of Llanthony and Craswall (Herefordshire) and also founded
6156-434: The business of the manor was directed and controlled by regular manorial courts, which appointed manorial officials such as the bailiff , granted copyhold leases to tenants, resolved disputes between manorial tenants and administered justice in general. A large and suitable building was required within the manor for such purpose, generally in the form of a great hall , and a solar might be attached to form accommodation for
6270-417: The castle at some point after 1285, and Laurence moved into his new property in the early 1290s. The castle was, as Nigel Pounds describes it, "both pretentious and comfortable", initially comprising living accommodation and a tower to the north. In 1291 Laurence received permission from the King to fortify his castle - a document called a licence to crenellate - and he may have used this authority to construct
6384-453: The castle, under her supervision, at a cost of £103. In 1869 the Craven estate, 5,200 acres (2,100 ha) in size but by now heavily mortgaged, was purchased by John Derby Allcroft for £215,000. Allcroft was the head of Dents , a major glove manufacturer, through which he had become extremely wealthy. The estate included Stokesay Castle, where from around 1875 onwards Allcroft undertook extensive restoration work over several years. Stokesay
6498-419: The context to visitors; or using the site to demonstrate restoration techniques appropriate to different periods. These were rejected in favour of a policy of minimising any physical intervention during the restoration and preserving the building in the condition it was passed to English Heritage, including its unfurnished interior. The archaeologist Gill Chitty has described this as encouraging visitors to undergo
6612-405: The core unit of traditional Basque society, as the ancestral home of a family . Traditionally, the household is administered by the etxekoandre (lady of the house) and the etxekojaun (master of the house), each with distinctly defined rights, roles and responsibilities. When the couple reaches a certain age upon which they wish to retire, the baserri is formally handed over to a child. Unusually,
6726-719: The country in the summer because of the putrid canals and diseases in the city. A few still exist, especially along the river Vecht , the river Amstel , the Spaarne in Kennemerland , the river Vliet and in Wassenaar . Some are located near former lakes (now polders ) like the Wijkermeer, Watergraafsmeer and the Beemster . In the 19th century, with improvements in water management, new regions came into fashion, such as
6840-436: The damp and mouldering walls". The smithy in the basement of the south tower resulted in a fire in 1830, which caused considerable damage to the castle, gutting the south tower. Extensive decay in the bases of the cruck tresses in the castle's roof posed a particular threat to the hall, as the decaying roof began to push the walls apart. Restoration work was carried out in the 1830s by William Craven, 2nd Earl of Craven . This
6954-478: The de Verdons of Alton. James's father, Henry de Audley was the son of Adam de Audley and Emma, daughter of Ralph/Radulphus fitzOrm whose niece Alina, daughter of Robert fitzOrm, had married Engenulph de Gresley, one of the de Stafford family whose great-grandfather was Robert de Stafford . Engenulph and Alina's daughter Hawise de Gresley was Henry de Audley's 2nd cousin; she had married Henry de Verdun, son of Bertram III de Verdun . This means that Laurence de Ludlow
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#17327761254967068-606: The deposed Meiler Fitzhenry. By this time, John had begun his infamous persecution of de Lacy's father-in-law, de Braose, who fled to Ireland. On 20 June 1210, King John landed in Crook, now in County Waterford , with his feudal levy and a force of Flemish mercenaries; John marched north through Leinster . When John reached Dublin on 27 or 28 June, de Lacy attempted to throw himself on John's mercy, sending five of his tenants to Dublin to place his lands in Meath back in
7182-468: The earlier houses are the legacy of the feudal heerlijkheid system. The Dutch had a manorial system centred on the local lord's demesne . In Middle Dutch this was called the vroonhof or vroenhoeve , a word derived from the Proto-Germanic word fraujaz , meaning "lord". This was also called a hof and the lord's house a hofstede . Other terms were used, including landhuis (or just huis ),
7296-417: The early 19th century the castle was being used for storing grain and manufacturing, including barrel-making, coining and a smithy. The castle began to deteriorate, and the antiquarian John Britton noted during his visit in 1813 that it had been "abandoned to neglect, and rapidly advancing to ruin: the glass is destroyed, the ceilings and floors are falling, and the rains streams through the opening roof on
7410-453: The early 20th century, however, and it became increasingly difficult for them to cover the costs of maintaining Stokesay. In 1986 Jewell Magnus-Allcroft finally agreed to place Stokesay Castle into the guardianship of English Heritage , and the castle was left to the organisation on her death in 1992. English Heritage carried out extensive restoration of the castle in the late 1980s. In the 21st century, Stokesay Castle continues to be operated as
7524-804: The early 20th century. The Biltmore Estate in North Carolina (which is still owned by descendants of the original builder, a member of the Vanderbilt family ) is a more modern, though unsuccessful, attempt at building a small manorial society near Asheville, North Carolina. Most manor-style homes built since the Civil War were merely country retreats for wealthy industrialists in the late 19th and early 20th century and had little agricultural, administrative or political function. Examples of these homes include Castle Hill (Ipswich, Massachusetts) , Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site and Hearst Castle . A rare example of hereditary estate ownership in
7638-531: The family baserri as unmarried employees or make their own way in the world ( Iglesia o mar o casa real , "Church or sea or royal house"). A cortijo is a type of traditional rural habitat in the Southern half of Spain , including all of Andalusia and parts of Extremadura and Castile-La Mancha . Cortijos may have their origins in ancient Roman villas , for the word is derived from the Latin cohorticulum ,
7752-474: The family's problems. Despite receiving considerable numbers of visitors – over 16,000 in 1955 – it was becoming increasingly impractical to maintain the castle, and calls were made for the State to take over the property. For several decades the owners, Philip and Jewell Magnus-Allcroft , declined these proposals and continued to run the castle privately. In 1986 Jewell finally agreed to place Stokesay Castle into
7866-455: The first mansions designed by architects not by mere masons or builders, began to make their appearance. Such houses as Burghley House , Longleat House , and Hatfield House are among the best known of this period and seem today to epitomise the English country house . During the 16th century many lords of manors moved their residences from their ancient manor houses often situated next to
7980-586: The gaps of the merlons along the battlements, and during the English Civil War it was equipped with additional wooden defences to protect the garrison. The hall and solar block are adjacent to the south tower, and were designed to be symmetrical when seen from the courtyard, although the addition of the additional stone buttresses in the 19th century has altered this appearance. The hall is 54.5 feet (16.6 m) long and 31 feet (9.4 m) wide, with has three large, wooden 13th-century arches supporting
8094-456: The guardianship of English Heritage , and the castle was left to the organisation on her death in 1992. The castle was passed to English Heritage largely unfurnished, with minimal interpretative material in place, and it needed fresh restoration. There were various options for taking forward the work, including restoring the castle to resemble a particular period in its history; using interactive approaches such as " living history " to communicate
8208-472: The heiress Roesia de Verdun and Theobald le Botiller . Margery's share of her grandfather's estates included Stokesay and a moiety of nearby Ludlow, which thereafter were held by the de Verduns. On 1 September 1270, to raise money to pay for going on the Eighth Crusade with Prince Edward , John de Verdun conveyed a tenancy of his manor of Stokesay to Philip de Whichecote for a term of 3 years, which
8322-681: The hill which housed the Imperial residences in Rome. Palacio Real is the same as Palacio, but historically used (either now or in the past) by the Spanish royal family . Palacio arzobispal is the same as Palacio, but historically used by the ecclesiastic authorities (mainly bishops or archbishops). Alcázar is a type of Moorish castle or fortified palace in Spain (and also Portugal ) built during Muslim rule, although some founded by Christians. Mostly of
8436-468: The king's hand, and disclaiming any attempt to shelter his brother Hugh from John's wrath. John attacked eastern Meath, and was joined by 400 of de Lacy's deserting followers. John would hold de Lacy's lands in Meath for five years. In 1211 de Lacy erected the castle on Turbet Island in the abortive Anglo-Norman attempt to gain control of West Ulster. Attempting to secure support in Ireland against
8550-557: The kingdom became internally more peaceable after the Wars of the Roses , as a form of status symbol, reflecting the position of their owners as having been worthy to receive royal licence to crenellate . The Tudor period (16th century) of stability in England saw the building of the first of the unfortified great houses , for example Sutton Place in Surrey, circa 1521. The Dissolution of
8664-412: The lord. The produce of a small manor might be insufficient to feed a lord and his large family for a full year, and thus he would spend only a few months at each manor and move on to another where stores had been laid up. This also gave the opportunity for the vacated manor house to be cleaned, especially important in the days of the cess-pit , and repaired. Thus such non-resident lords needed to appoint
8778-409: The major nobility. Stokesay Castle would form a secure personal home for Laurence, well-positioned close to his other business operations in the region. It was also intended to be used as a commercial estate, as it was worth around £26 a year, with 120 acres (49 ha) of agricultural land, 6 acres (2.4 ha) of meadows, an expanse of woodland, along with watermills and a dovecot . Work began on
8892-460: The moat were a lake and ponds that were probably intended to be viewed from the south tower. The parish church of St John the Baptist, of Norman origins but largely rebuilt in the middle of the 17th century, lies just alongside the castle. Stokesay Castle forms what archaeologist Gill Chitty describes as "a comparatively complete ensemble" of medieval buildings, and their survival, almost unchanged,
9006-486: The new gatehouse, which was essentially ornamental. Nonetheless, both sides complied with the protocols of warfare at the time, resulting in a bloodless victory for the Parliamentary force: the besiegers demanded that the garrison surrender, the garrison refused, the attackers demanded a surrender for a second time, and this time the garrison were able to give up the castle with dignity. Shortly afterwards on 9 June,
9120-534: The nobility. Some country houses were built on top of the ruins of earlier castles that had been destroyed during the Dutch Revolt . The owners, aspiring to noble status, adopted the name of the earlier castle. These country houses or stately homes (called buitenplaats or buitenhuis in Dutch) were located close to the city in picturesque areas with a clean water source. Wealthy families sent their children to
9234-576: The north tower. Henry stood surety for an associate's debts and when they defaulted, he was pursued for this money, resulting in a period of imprisonment in Fleet Prison ; by 1598 he sold the castle for £6,000 to pay off his own substantial debts. The new owner, Sir George Mainwaring , sold the property on again in 1620, via a consortium of investors, to the wealthy widow and former Mayoress of London, Dame Elizabeth Craven for £13,500. The estates around Stokesay were now valuable, bringing in over £300
9348-488: The owners of large agricultural estates granted by colonial rulers and built large manor houses from which these estates were managed (e.g., Mount Vernon , Monticello ). American agricultural estates, however, often relied on slaves rather than tenant farmers or serfs which were common in Europe at the time. The owners of American agricultural estates did not have noble titles and there was no legally recognized political structure based on an aristocratic, land-owning class. As
9462-490: The parents were by tradition free to choose any child, male or female, firstborn or later born, to assume the role of etxekoandre or etxekojaun to ensure the child most suitable to the role would inherit the ancestral home. The baserri under traditional law (the fueros ) cannot be divided or inherited by more than one person. This is still the case in the Southern Basque Country but the introduction of
9576-481: The parish church and near or in the village and built a new manor house within the walls of their ancient deer-parks adjoining. This gave them more privacy and space. While suffixes given to manor houses in recent centuries have little substantive meaning, and many have changed over time, in previous centuries manor names had specific connotations. The usage is often today used as a modern catch-all suffix for an old house on an estate , true manor or not. In France,
9690-466: The point of view of the medieval visitor". According to legend, Stokesay was once the home of two giants, one of whom lived on View Edge, and the other on Norton Camp. They kept their treasure in Stokesay Castle, but upon losing the key to the castle, they both died of grief. Manor houses A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor . The house formed
9804-593: The removal of the garrison from Stokesay Castle. By early 1645 the war had turned decisively against the King, and in February, Parliamentary forces seized the county town of Shrewsbury . This exposed the rest of the region to attack, and in June a force of 800 Parliamentary soldiers pushed south towards Ludlow, attacking Stokesay en route. The Royalist garrison, led by Captain Daurett, was heavily outnumbered and it would have been impossible for them to effectively defend
9918-402: The revolt of Prince John "lackland" , Lord of Ireland, against his brother, King Richard "the lionheart" , in 1193–94, Walter de Lacy joined with John de Courcy to support Richard. De Lacy apprehended some knights loyal to John along with Peter Pipard, John's justiciar in Ireland. De Lacy did homage to Richard for his lands in Ireland in 1194, receiving his lordship of Meath. After mounting
10032-463: The roof, unusually, given its size, using lateral wooden collars, but no vertical king-posts . The roof's cruck joists now rest on 19th-century stone supports, but would have originally reached down to the ground. The roof is considered by the historian Henry Summerson to be a "rare survival for the period". In the medieval period a wooden screen would have cut off the north end, providing a more secluded dining area. The solar block has two storeys and
10146-489: The size of the house and/or the use that the family gave to them. In Spain many old manor houses, palaces, castles and grand homes have been converted into a Parador hotel. A Palacio is a sumptuously decorated grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill,
10260-496: The smaller Renaissance châteaux of France and the numerous country mansions of the Elizabethan and Jacobean styles in England. These would eventually evolve into country houses with the estate replacing the manor. Manor houses were often built in close proximity to the village for ease, as they served not just as a home for the lord of the manor, but as a centre of administration for those who lived or travelled within
10374-464: The solar. The three-storey north tower is reached by a 13th-century staircase in the hall, which leads onto the first floor. The first floor was divided into two separate rooms shortly after the construction of the tower, and contain various decorative tiles, probably from Laurence's house in Ludlow. The walls of the second floor are mostly half-timbered, jettying out above the stone walls beneath them;
10488-400: The southern tower, which had a particularly martial appearance and was added onto the castle shortly afterwards. In November 1294 Laurence was drowned at sea off the south of England, and his son, William, may have finished some of the final work on Stokesay. His descendants, who took the Ludlow surname, continued to control Stokesay Castle until the end of the 15th century, when it passed into
10602-553: The tenancy of Stokesay from Philip de Whichecote in 1281, possibly for around £266, which he could easily have afforded, as he had made a fortune from the wool trade. Laurence exported wool from the Welsh Marches , travelling across Europe to negotiate sales, and maintaining offices in Shrewsbury and London. He had become the most important wool merchant in England, helping to set government trade policies and lending money to
10716-519: The terms château or manoir are often used synonymously to describe a French manor house; maison-forte is the appellation for a strongly fortified house , which may include two sets of enclosing walls, drawbridges , and a ground-floor hall or salle basse that was used to receive peasants and commoners. The term manoir is used historically only in Normandy and in Brittany . The salle basse
10830-433: The throne in 1660, William's lands were returned to him, and the Baldwyns continued to lease Stokesay Castle from him. During the 18th century, Stokesay Castle continued to be leased by the Baldwyn family, although they sublet the property to a range of tenants; after this point it ceased to be used as a domestic dwelling. Two wood and plaster buildings, built against the side of the hall , were demolished around 1800, and by
10944-490: The throne of England in 1199, Prince John wrote to his justiciar in Ireland to complain that de Courcy and de Lacy had destroyed his land of Ireland. Walter had made John his enemy. In 1203, John granted custody of the city of Limerick to de Lacy's father-in-law, William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber . As de Braose was an absentee, de Lacy served as de Braose's deputy in Limerick. In 1206–07, de Lacy became involved in
11058-406: The tower during its construction to support the walls. The current floors are Victorian in origin, having been built after the fire of 1830, but the tower remains unglazed, as in the 13th century, with shutters at the windows providing protection in winter. The basement was originally only accessible from the first floor, and would have provided a secure area for storage, in addition to also containing
11172-422: The tower has its original 13th-century fireplace, although the wooden roof is 19th-century, modelled on the 13th-century original, and the windows are 17th-century insertions. The details and the carpenters' personal marks on the woodwork show that the hall, solar and north tower were all constructed under the direction of the same carpenter in the late 1280s and early 1290s. Stokesay Castle was never intended to be
11286-462: The war. Parliament sequestrated the property from William and ordered the slighting of the castle in 1647, but only pulled down the castle's curtain wall , leaving the rest of the complex intact. Samuel returned in 1649 to continue to rent the castle during the years of the Commonwealth , and put in wood panelling and new windows into parts of the property. With the restoration of Charles II to
11400-720: Was lord of Meath in Ireland. He was also a substantial land owner in Weobley , Herefordshire, in Ludlow , Shropshire, in Ewyas Lacy in the Welsh Marches , and several lands in Normandy . He was the eldest son of Hugh de Lacy , a leading Cambro-Norman baron in the Norman invasion of Ireland , and Rohese of Monmouth . With his father he built Trim Castle ( Irish : 'Caisletheán Bhaile Atha Troim ) in Trim, County Meath . During
11514-475: Was a deliberate attempt at conserving the existing building, rather than rebuilding it, and was a very unusual approach at this time. By 1845, stone buttresses and pillars had been added to support parts of the hall and its roof. Research by Thomas Turner was published in 1851, outlining the history of the castle. Frances Stackhouse Acton , a local landowner, took a particular interest in the castle, and in 1853 convinced William to carry out further repair work on
11628-561: Was a traditional architectural structure associated with a community and social network. It usually consisted of a main building surrounded by gardens, a dovecote and outbuildings such as a small chapels for religious celebrations. The word pazo is derived from the Latin palatiu(m) ("palace"). The Baserri , called "Caserio" in Spanish, is the typical manor house of the Basque Provinces and Navarre . A baserri represents
11742-408: Was also the location of the manorial court, with the steward or seigneur's seating location often marked by the presence of a crédence de justice or wall-cupboard (shelves built into the stone walls to hold documents and books associated with administration of the demesne or droit de justice ). The salle haute or upper-hall, reserved for the seigneur and where he received his high-ranking guests,
11856-504: Was in serious need of repairs: the visiting writer Henry James noted in 1877 that the property was in "a state of extreme decay". Allcroft attempted what the archaeologist Gill Chitty has described as a "simple and unaffected" programme of work, which generally attempted to avoid excessive intervention. He may have been influenced by the contemporary writings of the local vicar , the Reverend James La Touche, who took
11970-547: Was later extended for the term of Philip's life, when it would revert to John de Verdun. However, John died in 1274 and Stokesay was inherited by his son Theobald I de Verdun. The Inquisition Post Mortem following John's death revealed that the de Verduns' feoffee at Stokesay at the time was Reginald de Grey. In the feodaries of 1284, Laurence de Ludlow is said to hold the Vill of Stokesay for one knight's-fee under John de Grey, which John held it under Theobald de Verdun, who held of
12084-416: Was often accessible by an external spiral staircase. It was commonly "open" up to the roof trusses, as in similar English homes. This larger and more finely decorated hall was usually located above the ground-floor hall. The seigneur and his family's private chambres were often located off of the upper first-floor hall, and invariably had their own fireplace (with finely decorated chimney-piece) and frequently
12198-479: Was one of the leading wool merchants in England, who intended it to form a secure private house and generate income as a commercial estate. Laurence's descendants continued to own the castle until the 16th century, when it passed through various private owners. By the time of the outbreak of the First English Civil War in 1642, Stokesay was owned by William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven (1608–1697) ,
12312-449: Was only sometime after this date that Stokesay finally passed entirely into the possession of the Ludlow family. Stokesay Castle was passed by Thomas Vernon to his grandson Henry Vernon in 1563. The family had hopes of becoming members of the peerage and, possibly as a consequence, the property began to be regularly called a "castle" for the first time during this period. Henry divided his time between London and Stokesay, probably staying in
12426-722: Was originally owned by the de Lacy family, who had built the first Ludlow Castle within their manor of Stanton Lacy. In Domesday Book, Roger de Laci is recorded as holding Stoches of the King in capite . The manor was later held under the de Lacys by members of the de Say family, whose name attached to 'Stoke' created the name - Stokesay - by which it is still known today. In 1241, the then lord of Stokesay, Walter de Lacy , Lord of Meath, died. His son Gilbert had predeceased him, so his extensive estates were divided among Walter's granddaughters. One of these, Margery, had married Sir John de Verdun of Alton Castle in Staffordshire, son of
12540-444: Was probably intended to resemble the gatehouses of contemporary castles such as Caernarfon and Denbigh , and would probably have originally shared the former's "banded" stonework. Cordingley describes the south tower as "adding prestige rather than security". Visitors would then have passed by the impressive outside of the main hall block, before entering the castle itself, which Robert Liddiard notes might have been an "anticlimax from
12654-493: Was quite common during the 17th to early 20th centuries for the aristocracy to have country homes. These homes, known as solares ( paços , when the manor was a certain stature or size; quintas , when the manor included a sum of land), were found particularly in the northern, usually richer, Portugal, in the Beira , Minho , and Trás-os-Montes provinces. Many have been converted into a type of hotel called pousada . Quinta
12768-445: Was related by marriage to cousins of his feudal lord Theobald de Verdun. Laurence's mother-in-law Ela de Audley was the daughter of William II Longespée, whose father William I Longespée , Earl of Salisbury was the illegitimate son of Henry II by Ida de Tosny , who became the wife of Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk. John de Verdun's grandfather, Nicholas de Verdun had been brought up at the court of Ida and Roger Bigod . Laurence bought
12882-458: Was sold to the wealthy industrialist John Derby Allcroft who paid for another round of extensive restoration during the 1870s. Both of these owners attempted to limit any alterations to the existing buildings during their conservation work, which was unusual for this period. The castle became a popular location for tourists and artists, and was formally opened to paying visitors in 1908. Allcroft's descendants fell into financial difficulties during
12996-451: Was termed an hacendado or patrón . The work force on haciendas varied, depending on the type of hacienda and where it was located. Casona is old manor houses in León , Asturias and Cantabria ( Spain ) following the so-called " casa montañesa architecture". Most of them were built in the 17th and 18th centuries. Typologically they are halfway between rustic houses and palaces Quinta is
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