Frome in Wessex
The Castle at Farleigh Hungerford
Abstract
Contents Updated: Thursday, 26 October 2006
The Castle at Farleigh Hungerford
Farleigh Hungerford castle is about eight miles north of Frome and about two miles from Norton St Philip, which has the remarkable public house, The George. The manor was called Farleigh Montfort from just after the conquest when it was owned by the Norman family, the Montforts, until the fourteenth century. Then Reginald de Montfort sold the estate to one of Edward III’s soldiers whose family held it only for about a quarter of a century. In 1369 AD Sir Thomas de Hungerford bought the house from the childless daughter of the recently deceased squire, and the house later came to be known as Farleigh Hungerford.
Sir Thomas was the first Speaker (now we would call him chairman or president) of the House of Commons in 1377 AD. Without bothering to seek the permission of the king, Hungerford fortified the house after he had bought it and had completed the work by about 1380 AD. In 1383, he was however pardoned for his "oversight" and he lived in the new castle until his death in 1398. He had favoured the local church by building on to it a chapel dedicated to St Anne where he was laid to rest. His widow died in 1412 and lies beside him.
Sir Walter Hungerford inherited the castle and, like his father was the Speaker of the House of Commons but, in 1426, he was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Hungerford. This was the time when the manor began to be called Hungerford. He extended the fortifications, encompassing the nearby parish church in its outer court. He also endowed two chantries and built a house for the chaplains to the east of the church.
Attainder
He died in 1449 and the second baron died in 1459. The third baron was better known from his wife’s wealth as Lord Moleyns. Moleyns was a rude soldier who was captured by the French at Chatillon when the last English army in Gascony was beaten. He was attainted, an old legal term meaning officially disgraced for a felony or more seriously treason and sentenced to death, in 1461 then captured when the Lancastrians were routed at Hexham in 1464 when he was executed. His son was also attained and executed in 1469. Since the Hungerfords were out of favour, the manor was granted to Richard, Duke of Gloucester in 1462, and when he became king in 1483, he granted it to the Howard family, the Dukes of Norfolk. John Howard died at the battle of Bosworth in 1485 but Walter Hungerford was knighted there and recovered the castle where he was buried in 1516.
His son, Sir Edward Hungerford, dies in 1522 leaving everything to his second wife Agnes. The following year, however, she was arrested, tried and hanged at Tyburn (now called Marble Arch) for hiring two men to murder her previous husband and burning his body to ashes in the kitchen furnace of Farleigh Hungerford castle.
The third wife of the next Lord Hungerford wrote to Thomas Cromwell complaining that her husband had imprisoned her in a tower of Farleigh castle for several years with little to eat or drink. The Lord’s chaplain had been in charge of her and she believed he had tried to poison her. Hungerford was a supporter of Cromwell and when he was defeated he was executed in 1540 for treason and unnatural vice.
The king passed on the manor to Sir Thomas Seymour but he too fell from favour, was attainted and executed. The next Lord Hungerford bought the manor from Queen Mary in 1554. He too tried to poison his wife and went to prison rather than pay the costs of the case to his wife.
In the Civil War, the Lord Hungerford commanded the Parliamentary forces of Wiltshire. His half brother was a Royalist and was given the command of the garrison of Farleigh in 1644. However he surrendered to his brother without fighting in 1645. A later Lord Hungerford entertained Charles II at Farleigh in about 1675, although originally he had been a supporter of Parliament and a friend of Cromwell. After the discovery of the Rye House Plot in 1683, the catle was raided by the government and weapons were seized.
By 1701 the castle was described as "ruinous". The Lord Hungerford of the time had been given the nickname, the Spendthrift, having gone through £14,000 a year and consumed capital as well to the value of £80,000. These are staggering sums of money for the time, translating today into millions!
Since 1915 when it was donated by Lord Cairns, the Commissioners of her Majesty’s Works have looked after the castle. The castle is the venue of a fascinating program of historical events throughout the summer. Over August bank Holiday weekend there is a programme devoted to medieval life with archery, training and combat as well as domestic life, crafts and games. Events begin at noon and admission is a nominal £2 or less and is even free to members of English Heritage. Details Tel: 01225 754026.
The castle has a marvellous old wall painting of St George killing the dragon.
