Stokesay
Stokesay takes it name from the old English vill of Stoke, which at
Domesday belonged to Roger Lacy (d.1095+) a possible builder of Ludlow castle. Then it was known as Stoches.
Walter Lacy (d.1085) would appear to have been holding it in 1085 when
he founded St Peter's, Hereford, and granted a villager from Stokesay
and 9 other of his vills to his new foundation. At some point
before 1094, Walter's son, Roger Lacy, enfeoffed Theodoric Say with the
vills of North Stoke (which became Stoke upon Tern), South Stoke (which
became Stokesay) and Wheathill, all in Shropshire. The early Say
family tree is fragmentary, but it seems likely that Theodoric was a
son of Robert Picot Say (d.1093+), the Domesday lord of Clun barony.
This honour spread from near Knighton in the west to Westhope in the
east, while towards the south-east Stokesay lay near Picot's manors of
Sibdon Carwood and Clungunford. The barony of Clun passed to a
different Say line than that of Theodoric who left a son, Helias
(d.1177+), who had a possible cousin, Helias Say of Clun (d.bef.1165). This is made doubly confusing by both apparently having sons called Hugh, although the Clun Hugh may be a son of the lord of Richards Castle. This Hugh Say, who inherited Richards Castle
in 1186, died in 1190, while Hugh of Stokesay died about 1194. To
make matters worse, both these Hughs had sons also called Hugh!
The Stokesay Hugh had granted the church of St John of Stokesay
(Suthestokes) to Haughmond abbey in or slightly before 1177.
Before 1241 Walter Say (d.1250+), the grandson of Helias Say of
Stokesay (d.bef.1177), calling himself lord of Stokesay, held 4
knights' fees of Walter Lacy (d.1241) of Ludlow. Presumably these consisted of Stoke upon Tern, Moreton Say, Wheathill and Stokesay. As W de la Sey his barony was recorded as 3 fees held by Walter himself in Stoke upon Tern (Northstok), Stokesay (Sotstok) and Wheathill (Wethul).
The rest of the barony consisted of Rushbury, Corfton, Great Sutton,
Witchcot, Hopton in Hodnet, Bitterley, Henley, Wodeton, Euledon, land in Welshpool (Pole), Heyton and Lower Heyton.
The last Hugh Say of Stokesay (d.bef.1279), the nephew of Walter
(d.1250+), exchanged his knight's fee in Stoke, which owed the service
of 40 days at Shrawardine castle during
war time, for land in Ireland with John Verdun in the period 1250 to
1255. John was lord of Alton in Staffordshire and Castleroche in Louth in his own right and an heir to the Lacys of Ludlow and Longtown.
In 1255 Verdun was recorded as lord of Stokesay, Whettleton and Newton
as the heir of Walter Lacy (d.1241) and that he held Stokesay for 2
knight's fees. The same year it was recorded that Stokesay owed 1
knight to guard Montgomery castle
in time of war for 40 days and that John Verdun had taken the manor out
of the hundred and that it was now held by Reginald Grey (d.1308) of Wilton.
On 15 June 1258, the king granted John free warren in his demesne lands
throughout England. In Shropshire he held 3 manors, Northstoke,
Morton and Southstoke, aka Stokesay.
In 1270 Prince Edward (d.1307)
set out on Crusade. To join him John Verdun had to raise money
and so on 1 September 1270 he conveyed the tenancy of Stokesay to
Philip Witchcot for 3 years in return for £24. Stokesay was
valued at the same time as worth 40m (£26 13s 4d) per
annum. When this 3 year term ended in 1273, Philip was to pay 40m
(£26 13s 4d) per annum for Stokesay of which 24½m were to
be paid to John at Weobley, the remaining 15½m were to go
against John's annuities, John also received the wardships and
escheats, but Philip kept the rents. This agreement was to last
for Philip's life only if he kept up payments at the allotted time,
otherwise Verdun could retake seizin.
Theobald Verdun was killed in Ireland before 17 October 1274. His lands, including the Say land of Stok,
passed to his eldest surviving son, Theobald (d.1310). On
Theobald Verdun's death in 1310 this land was more formally reported as
Stoke upon Tirne. This
was the lands the Says had called North Stoke. When Theobald's
son, another Theobald, died in 1317 his inquest discovered that he held
Stoke upon Tern as well as Southstoke, which in turn was held by a
knight's fee by the heir of William Ludlow (d.1317). In short,
Stokesay was now held by the Ludlows of the Verduns. How this
state of affairs came about is not recorded.
Tradition says that after Laurence Ludlow (d.1294), the father of
William (d.1317), bought Stokesay from the Says, some time before 1284
and built the castle. This is based upon a licence for Laurence
to strengthen his house of Stokesay with a wall of stone and lime and
to crenellate it. This was issued by Edward I
on 19 October 1291. Quite obviously this was freedom to fortify
an already existing building and a wall is hardly the great tower or
tower block. It has also been shown that these licences to
crenellate were not a necessity for fortifying castles, otherwise most
the castles in Britain would have been classified as criminal
constructions. Further, Laurence had entertained the bishop of
Hereford and his retinue at Stokesay in 1290 for 10 days. Again
this would suggest that the castle was extant before any licence to
crenellate was issued.
The question of who built Stokesay and when is partially answered by
detailed study of the historical evidence and partially by the dendrochronological dating of the woodwork
in the upper levels of the north tower and the hall. This
returned dates of around 1262 although several pieces of wood
within the hall were earlier, viz, 1118, 1151, 1192, 1218, 1230, 1241,
1242 and 1245. As the woodwork was made to fit the north tower
and shows no sign of reuse it seems reasonably secure that the masonry
under the woodwork predates this. In short, the woodwork suggests
that something existed on the site from the twelfth century and that
the north tower and hall block were standing by the mid thirteenth
century when their current woodwork was fitted. Further, the
Ludlows had had an interest in Stokesay since before 1220 when Andrew
Ludlow (d.bef.1222) and his son Nicholas (d.1270+) held Stokesay mill.
By July 1281 Nicholas' son, William Ludlow (d.1294), was lord of
Stokesay, which, in 1284, he was recorded as holding for 1 fee of John
Grey (of Wilton, d.1323), who in turn held
it from Theobald Verdun (d.1310) who held in chief. It would seem
from this that Theobald had enfeoffed Grey of Stokesay when John
married Matilda Verdun (d.bef.1280), Theobald's daughter, before
1270. On 18 January 1281, John and Matilda Verdun acknowledged
the right of Laurence Ludlow to hold Stokesay and pay the couple a rent
of 8d and a sore sparrow hawk. A few months later on 21 July 1281
Lawrence made an agreement with Haughmond abbey
over Newton near Stokesay, a property that some 30 years earlier had
belonged to Hugh Say (d.1250+). That Laurence was now lord of
Stokesay was confirmed on 24 October 1281, when the king granted him
and his heirs free warren of all his demesne in Stokesay, Newton and
Wettleton, Shropshire.
Laurence Ludlow died in 1294, drowned as his ship sank when its woollen
cargo had become sodden in a storm. His son, William Ludlow, at
his death in 1317, was recorded as holding 2 parts of the manor of
Stokesay in free socage of John Grey by the service of 8d yearly.
On 8 June 1335, this was recorded a 1 fee at Stokesay held of the
deceased Theobald Verdun for 1 fee by Laurence Ludlow (d.1353).
On Laurence's death on 14 October 1353 it was recorded that he held
Stokesay jointly with Reginald Grey by the service of 8d yearly.
Seven years later on 20 November 1360, it was found that Laurence's
son, John Ludlow (d.1381) ‘and others', held Stokesay for a
knight's fee of Elizabeth Burgh, the recently deceased widow of
Theobald Verdun (d.1317). Part of the fee seems to have been
alienated by 1346 when it was recorded that Roger Corbet of Hadley (d.1404) and
his parceners were holding South Stoke for ½ fee of John Grey
(d.1353) that was once held of Walter Lacy (d.1241). Another
Roger Corbet of Hadley was holding the manor with his parceners as late
as 1428.
The castle was slighted after a short siege in June 1645 at the end of
the Civil War, though the hall, towers and gatehouse survived this.
Description
Stokesay castle stands next to it's lake and is still surrounded by a
deep ditch that was once a moat. This was about 25' wide and 6'
deep. Within is a raised polygonal enclosure about 150' north to
south by 130' across. This contains the main remnant of the
castle surrounded by the curtain wall which was formerly standing some
35' high from the ditch bottom if the fully surviving section east of
the keep is anything to go by. Elsewhere the much repaired wall
is reduced to some 20' high externally and plainly the top sections of
this have been rebuilt, probably after they were slighted in the civil
war. In several place a substantial plinth seems to have been added to
add stability to the walls above the wet moat.
The hub of the castle is the peculiar 3 storey heart-shaped tower,
sometimes called the south tower, whose woodwork was totally
refurbished in 1641 and after a fire in 1830. This is obviously
the polygonal keep of the fortress
and stands 66' high with a diameter of 40', although its walls varied
between 5' and 5'6" thick. It may be best described as an
irregular octagon in which the southern 3 sides have been replaced with
2 barely projecting conjoined turrets to make the whole the shape of a
rather fat heart. Access is currently gained at ground floor
level by an inserted east door which has a mural stairway leading up to
the north. This stairway originally led downwards from the main
first floor entrance. This doorway was originally reached by an
external stair and bridge from the solar block to the north. The
entrance appears to have originally been defended by a
drawbridge. From this entranceway a further mural stair runs up
through the wall to the upper or second floor. From a north
facing embrasure in this upper floor room a further mural stair ran up
to the battlements. All these stairs were in the internal walls
of the tower, so given protection from artillery attack which the walls
facing the exterior of the castle would have been vulnerable to.
The 3 floors consist of these unusual single heart shaped chambers,
although there were internal wooden partitions before the fire of 1830.
The first floor also has 2 mural chambers to the
south-east. The battlements, like the chimneys, appear
reminiscent of the Edwardian wall tops at Caernarfon castle. As the tower contained its own well it was obviously meant for more than mere show.
At the north-western end of the fortress stood the unusual north
tower. This ‘tower' consists of an irregular pentagonal
block with a turret projecting from the central spur to the
north. Within this turret lies another well. At ground
floor the buttery still has original decoration on the plaster
work. Like the keep, the north ‘tower' is of 3 storeys
although the top floor consists of a projecting wooden hoarding which
may date back to the days of King John
(1199-1216). The upper floors of the tower were reached via
external steps in the hall to the south. To the east of the tower
lay a massive kitchen, now reduced to buried foundations. That
the north tower predated the hall is suggested by its basement being
some 4' lower than the hall floor. This may suggest that the
interior of the castle was raised between the north tower being built
and the hall commenced. Despite this, the walls of both
structures are well joined and similar to one another.
Between both towers lay the hall block, 79' long. The smaller
southern end consisted of a solar, while the larger north end contained
the hall which spanned all 3 floors, being 52' long, 31' wide and 34'
high. As at Harlech castle
gatehouse the upper portions of the windows were glassed, but the lower
sections were merely closed by wooden shutters. Central in the
hall was an octagonal stone hearth, but no chimney or louvres.
This may have been similar to the layout at Castell Carreg Cennen and Dryslwyn halls.
The solar to the south of the hall contained 2 floors and an
attic. The west end of the south wall at ground floor level may
be of a different build to the rest of the castle and is therefore
possibly the oldest masonry on the site. Beyond the doorway in
this wall was a trapezoid chamber which may have been a strong room,
lying between the keep and the solar. Its upper floor is a Civil
War addition. The first floor of the solar was only reached via
the external stair to the keep, which was originally covered by a pent
roof. The room currently contains seventeenth century panelling
and has 2 squints allowing a view into the hall.
To the east is a wooden gatehouse with interesting carvings which was
built in 1640-41 for a cost of some £533. North of the
castle is the early Stokesay church.
Why
not join me at other Lost Welsh Castles next Spring?
Please see the information on tours at Scholarly
Sojourns.
Copyright©2022
Paul Martin Remfry