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| Leicester Castle as seen today |
So
who lived in a house like this? Well, read on.
Think
of a castle, and you picture the mighty structures that defended the bluebloods
of glum merrie England: imposing walls, turrets and a portcullis gateways. So a
stray tourist catching their first glimpse of Leicester Castle could be excused
a sharp bolt of disappointment. Welford Road prison seems closer to the real
thing than the rather mundane-looking construction facing St Mary de Castro
Church.
Apart
from the ancient hall that is now almost entirely concealed beneath a modern
disguise, very little survives. The
remains, for the most part, consist of a Tudor gateway with adjacent buildings,
plus the Turret Gateway leading into the Newarke, an old cellar at the south
end of the hall and part of the original boundary wall. There are no notes or
drawings of the castle buildings at the time of their demolition or alteration
and no complete building accounts exist.
But
there are some original sources and the history of the castle can be traced
with the help of national records such as The Pipe Rolls. These antique
documents, coupled with knowledge gleaned by archaeological excavation, gives
the most complete history of Leicester Castle possible.
So
how did Leicester Castle come to be, and why did it hold such prestige?
Like
any conquered people, the English of 1066 resented their new Norman masters. So
in the years after the invasion, William the Conqueror went on a building
spree, establishing castles in large towns and along important lines of
communication. Leicester Castle was perfectly placed, strategically sited at
the south west corner of the town, on the eastern bank of the River Soar. It’s
thought it was built in 1068 and like many of the time, was of the motte and
bailey type – a large mound of earth, surrounded by a ditch with a wooden
palisade on top. The castle and a
quarter of the lands of Leicester were entrusted to Hugh de Grentemaisnil, a
loyal follower of the Conqueror and Lord of the neighbouring Honour and Castle
of Hinckley.
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| Leicester Castle in Norman times |
But
in 1088, Hugh joined the baronial rebellion against the new king of England,
the Conqueror’s son William Rufus. The revolt was unsuccessful and in revenge
for Hugh’s disloyalty, William Rufus assailed the castle of Leicester, either
damaging or completely destroying it. Hugh himself escaped a similar fate:
getting a royal pardon for his service to William the Conqueror.
Powerful Earl
However,
revolt ran in the blood. After Hugh’s death, his son Ivo joined a rebellion
against Henry I. When that, too, was crushed, Leicester Castle was again
destroyed.
Ivo
lost his honours and lands. And Leicester was now the possession of the king.
He handed it to a powerful Frenchman who would become the first earl of Leicester
– Robert de Beaumont. He was revered as “the wisest man from here to Jerusalem”
and was a descendant of powerful, ancient kings and rulers such as Charlemagne,
King of the Franks. Robert also left quite a legacy himself – his descendants
include George Washington, Winston Churchill and the late Princess Diana. Not
just that: it’s Robert we have to thank for St Mary de Castro church, known as
one of the most beautiful in the country at the time. Robert rebuilt the entire
settlement at the castle, re-establishing the motte and bailey defences and
replacing the wooden palisades with a stone wall.
On
his death, the earldom of Leicester passed to his son, Robert le Bossu – the
hunchback. This Robert was responsible for building Leicester Abbey. He
strengthened and enlarged the castle and built the stone Great Hall – the
principle surviving part of the castle today – which had the reputation of
being the grandest in Europe.
The
next de Beaumont earl of Leicester was Robert Blanchmains, who married
Petronilla, heiress of the de Grentemaisnil line. Like his father, Robert got
the builders in. By marrying a de Grentemaisnil, Robert seems to have picked up
a few other family traits: like Hugh and Ivo before him, he joined in a
rebellion against the king. The upshot was predictable – once more Leicester Castle
felt the wrath of a king. The Pipe Rolls records that 11s 9d and 40s was
entered as having been spent on the “demolition of the castle and town wall”. Thankfully, the Great Hall and St Mary de
Castro escaped destruction.
Age of splendour
The
next eye-catching owner was Simon de Montfort II. It is thought this Simon
enlarged and improved the residential buildings of the castle, for it was grand
enough to entertain King Henry III and his son Prince Edward in 1264. From the
Great Hall of the castle, the father of democracy summoned the first parliament
in England. On his death, the lands of Leicester, including the castle grounds,
went back to the king and the de Beaumont family rule of Leicester came to an
end.
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| Leicester Castle Great Hall in the 19th century |
In
1265, the honour, earldom and castle of Leicester were given to Edmund
Crouchback, the younger brother of Edward I. During his rule, the Great Hall
first came into use as a criminal court, a function it performed until
relatively recently. When Edmund died in 1296, the castle came into the hands
of his son, Thomas of Lancaster, who was executed in 1322.
Two
years later, the castle passed to Thomas’ brother, Henry. He died after just a
year as earl, but not before founding the Newarke Trinity Hospital for the poor
of Leicester. His son, Henry of Grosmont, completed the hospital in 1354, and
built a gatehouse in the Newarke which survives today, known as Turret Gateway.
He also added a collegiate church to the Newarke, in which he was buried after
his death at in 1361.
On
his death, his honours, titles and lands were given to his sister Blanche, who
was married to John of Gaunt, the fourth son of King Edward III. The great poet Chaucer was a frequent visitor
and King Richard II and his queen were entertained with splendour in the Great Hall.
As well as numerous expansions and improvements to the castle, which helped
turn it into one of the grandest in the land, John built a kitchen to the south
of the hall, with a very fine cellar underneath. Known today as John of Gaunt’s
Cellar, it remains in excellent condition. The death of John of Gaunt saw the
end to the Lancastrian earls of Leicester. The town and castle were now in the
hands of the throne. From then on, the castle’s importance declined. It still
attracted some royal attention though, as both Henry IV and Henry V
occasionally stayed there and it was important enough for the famous Parliament
of Bats to assemble in the Great Hall in 1426. Henry VI, Edward IV and Richard
III also stayed on a number of occasions.
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| Leicester Castle in the times of John of Gaunt |
The
last authentic record of its occupation, other than by the officials of honour,
seems to be a letter written by Richard III, dated “from my castle of Leicester,
on 18 August, 1483”. From this point on, the castle deteriorated badly. In May,
1645, Leicester took the side of Parliament against the crown in the civil war
and as a consequence, the town was attacked by Charles I and Prince Rupert. The
castle, in no state to defend itself, was captured and further damage was
inflicted. With the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the lands of Leicester
were given back to the crown, who leased the castle.
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| Rupert's gateway & St. Mary de Castro Church |
Damage is done
From
the end of the 17th century onwards, the history of the castle centres mainly
on the Great Hall which, although in a poor state, was used twice a year as a
court. In 1695, during the reign of William and Mary, the eastern side of the
original Norman hall was taken down and replaced by a brick front. Apart from
its use as a court, the hall would occasionally be used as an entertainment
venue for special functions, such as a town ball in 1722. Early in the 19th
century, the hall went through its final transformation and was divided into
two separate courts. Most historians agree that through the 900 years of
turbulent history, this was the greatest damage. In 1832 the Turret Gateway was
partially destroyed during an election squabble and then fell into a
dilapidated condition. On March 26, 1888, the county justices bought the castle
from the crown, terminating its long connection with the Duchy of Lancaster. Since
Leicester’s court moved away from the Great Hall in 1992, it has ceased to be
the administrative heart of Leicester, but as it remains the oldest surviving
aisled and bay-divided hall in Europe, its historical value is priceless.
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| Leicester Castle from the rear in 1955 |
by Matthew Sibson
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