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Castle Drogo: England's Last Castle

28/12/2014

Castle Drogo stands on a granite outcrop on the edge of Dartmoor, and from a distance, the stonework seems so perfect that you will be forgiven for thinking that it has been crafted by a child out of granite-coloured Lego bricks.

But Castle Drogo is a real castle, its walls are nearly six feet thick, it has battlements and working portcullis.

However, unlike the hundreds of castles built in Britain, this is one that has never had to endure an attack or a siege.

This twentieth-century castle was named after one Drogo de Teigne who is thought, by the castle's original owners, the Drewe family, to have been a Norman baron and their ancestor.

The Drewe family's time at this West Country castle began in 1911 when the building work began. Julius Drewe was a young and wealthy grocery tycoon and the original owner of Castle Drogo, his fortune was made through his Home & Colonial Stores. The first store arrived on our English high streets in 1883 and the last in 1903. Within those twenty years, Drewe built up a chain of over five hundred stores.

The story of the Drewes and Castle Drogo begins with a cousin who was the rector of the Parish of Drewsteignton with whom Julius had stayed on occasion. The fact that the name of the village was similar to his own did not go unnoticed and he soon became convinced that it was here, in this little piece of England, that his ancestors lived, the search for proof of this was soon underway. A link to the Drewe family in Elizabethan Devon and a knight in the court of King Charles I was soon found and this convinced Julius Drewe to build a new country home on the lands of his ancestors that matched his place in society, it was at this point that he decided that a castle would be a perfect way to add weight to his newly found social status.

The castle was completed only eight decades ago in 1931 and designed by architect Edwin Lutyens. Julius Drewe's castle was designed to appear as though it was rising from the cliff face as if it had grown 'organically over the centuries.' The building of Castle Drogo began in 1911, but the labour shortage due to the First World War saw the work on Drewes dream home come to a halt and the death of his son Adrian in 1917 from a mustard gas attack in Ypres France saw the end of his dream.

Since then the castle has been in much need of repair, the main problem area is the brickwork which has been severely damaged, the result of water pouring in from the original badly built roof. In 1974 Castle Drogo was given to the National Trust. It has also been given a Grade I listed building status and is presently in its second year of a 5-year conservation project to protect the castle from more water damage.

So was Julius's family of Norman origin or was he, as historians suggest, just a wealthy man with the desire to move up the social ladder with the money and the means to make it happen. Putting all the facts together it looks unlikely. The letter E was added to the family name in the same year work began on Castle Drogo when the information about the Drewe family of Devon was discovered. The Domesday Book has Drewsteignton as Taintone meaning a village by the Taine and by the thirteenth century, it was known as Teyngton Drue which derives its name from a local landowner Drewe de Teignton which could, if you wanted it to be, a link to a Drogo de Teigne.

I have much sympathy for Julius, why is it we scoff at men like him? Why do we say they have "ideas above their station" or
" they are trying to be someone they are not."

Don't some of us look back through history in the hope of finding a solid connection to our past, a something, an anything to attach ourselves to in a fragile world that we are unsure of? I certainly do. Don't we all look in estate agent's window and gaze in wonderment at those big houses with even bigger gardens and hope one day that we too might be living in one.

That is all Julius Drewe did, but what we don't like is the fact that he had the money to be able to do it.

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Christmas 1484 with Richard III

24/12/2014

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Standing proudly in the Fenlands of Lincolnshire are the ruins of the Abbey of Crowland, and as autumn brings its misty evenings, or winter its old crisp mornings, standing among the abbeys broken arches you cannot help but think of the forthcoming Christmas festivities.

Today, Crowland Abbey joins in the fun of Christmas just like any other religious establishment, on the 6th December it had its Christmas Craft and Food Fare when mince pies were eaten and maybe a drink of mulled wine was sampled. That very day in 1484, the second Christmas of King Richard III's reign, people celebrated St Nicholas's saints day.

On that day, our ancestors believed this Saint Nicholas brought gifts such as nuts, fruits and marzipan sweets, and with these gifts the ability to foretell the events of the following year. While most of the Fenland community where knocking back the Christmas ale, Crowland Abbey was not so festive. Within the abbey the monks were busy with local and national affairs, on one hand they were trying to keep talk of a local dispute quiet and on the other being quite vocal in its criticism of Christmas in the court of King Richard III.

Whoever it was that put ink to parchment, had much to say on the subject of the shenanigans going on at Richard's Christmas parties. The writer of the famous Croyland Chronicle states that he was unable to account for many of the activities in the court at this time “because it is shameful to speak of them” even Queen Anne and Elizabeth of York were considered "vain" because they had more than one party outfit. Richards best buddy, Bishop Thomas Langton, joined these medieval party poopers by stating "‘sensual pleasure holds sway to an increasing extent.’

What on earth did this mean?

Did Richard kiss the lovely Ann more than once under the mistletoe I wonder?

Not one of the writers made any attempt to elaborate on any of the events they were writing about.

All the criticisms of Richards "wild parties" came from the clergy who were very quick to point out that Richard saw himself as a " good, learned, serious and virtuous man" while also pointing out that he had called his brothers court "licentious and morally corrupt." The University of Leicester School of Historical Studies quite rightly points out ‘compared with the wild parties that were held at Rome during the reign of Pope Alexander VI, the English court under Edward IV and Richard III was a 'model of virtue’.

Surely, even the pious, like Richard, should not be frowned upon for having a good time, obviously there was more to these statements than meets the eye.

Perhaps these people were just a tad miffed and just bit disgruntled at not to being invited. Did they watch from a distance or listen enviously to tales told the following morning of how Catesby, Lovell and Ratcliffe danced in silly animal party hats or King Richard drank way too ale and threw iced cakes at the Earl of Warwick.

In reality of course, all these damning words were written years later. Those who pooh poohed the kings festivities were not irritated because a invitation hadn't landed on their door mat, they were spouting propaganda, words they thought their new king wished to hear, words that would keep them safe in the new Tudor era. History suggests that the events at court in 1484, as written in the Croyland Chronicles, were written two years later in 1486, by someone who was educated in law and who was privy to information within the court.

The Benedictine residents of Crowland Abbey had at their head one Lambert Fossdyke who had been Abbot at Crowland since January 1484 and who was a Bachelor of Law and it was such a man with a degree in law who was considered to be the writer of these malicious rumours about Richard III.

John Russell, Bishop of Lincoln, is commonly thought to be the author but it could just as well have been Fossdyke dictating to one of his monks?

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The Winter Solstice

21/12/2014

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Today, the 21st December is known as the Winter Solstice, a festival that has been celebrated long before Christianity. It falls on the shortest day of the year when the sun appears at noon at its lowest altitude above the horizon.

To most of us, the day passes unnoticed but to those of the Pagan religions, it is an important festival which they call Yule, a traditional Celtic fire festival. Paganism covers many old religions whose beliefs follow those of the Norse and old North European tribes. The Pagan sect we know best are the Druids. These ancient Celts thought that the sun stood still for twelve days in the middle of winter and during this time a log was lit to conquer the darkness, banish evil spirits, and bring luck for the coming year. A priest would cut the mistletoe that grew on the oak tree and give it as a blessing. Oaks were seen as sacred and the winter fruit of the mistletoe was a symbol of life in the dark winter months. These people spent most of their time outside surrounded by nature, the seasons and the weather were very important to them, the sun and the moon being of particular importance.

The people of the north saw the sun as a wheel that changed the seasons and it is from their word houl that the term Yule comes from.

Many people arrive at Stonehenge for the Winter Solstice, most just to watch others to mark the occasion.

Stonehenge, often thought of for its Summer Solstice celebrations, is linked to the winter solstice too, many gather as the sun sets right in the middle of three great stones, known as the Trilithon. The Trilithon consists of two large vertical stones supporting a third, horizontal stone across the top. This great Trilithon faces outwards from the center of the monument, with its smooth flat face turned toward the midwinter sun.

What many people will not know, I didn't, is that the primary axes of Stonehenge seem to have been carefully aligned on a sight line pointing to the winter solstice sunset.

In mid-winter, the Norsemen lit bonfires, told stories and drank sweet ale.

The Romans also celebrated the end of the year and the birth of the new with their Suturnalia, a seven-day festival beginning on the 17th December where they brought greenery into their homes, they lit candles, and gave each other presents. Many of these customs are still followed today. They have been incorporated into the Christian and secular celebrations of Christmas.

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Leicester Waites - Henry Reynolds Steer

19/12/2014

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My interest in Leicester's history runs along side my interest in Richard III and through this painting I can glimpse the city
as it was in the time of my great great grandparents.

A wonderful Victorian painting by Henry Reynolds Steer.

In Steer's painting, I wonder if that is my great great grandmother buying apples or maybe that is my great great grandfather bringing fabric he made on his stocking frame into the city, it is a nice thought, but I know that the lives my ancestors lived in Leicester were not, in reality, what the Victorian artist painted or those who purchased them wanted to see.

Most towns in England, from as far back as the medieval period, had a troupe of musicians called Waites who played
their instrument through our towns at night and woke the inhabitants on cold and dark winter mornings by playing under
their windows. Their other duties included welcoming royal visitors at the town gates and playing at important events. Their
name may originate from an instrument they played called a Wayte Pipe.

You can see Leicester's Waites depicted in the image above, finely dressed in their red and gold livery. They stand at Market Cross, at the junction of High Cross Street and High Street, the buildings you see here were gone by the mid-1800's as are the Waites themselves, they ceased playing in Leicester in 1947.

However, this is not the end, in 2002 Leicester's Waites were back and the position is currently held by the Longslade Consort, a small group of musicians who play early musical instruments, you can see here at Leicester's Guildhall.

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Fifteenth Century Reburials.

17/12/2014

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Alexandra Buckle, an expert in medieval music who is also a liturgical adviser to the committee planning the reburial of Richard III has reconstructed how an authentic medieval reburial service would have been conducted. Dr Buckle said that a reburial was a major event in the fifteenth century and she was quite surprised to find 'how widespread it was.' The work Dr Buckle has done shows that a reburial was not an ordinary affair but a separate service. She goes on to say

'This service provides an evocative picture of the medieval world, full of pomp and piety, with prayers that the dry bones being re-interred would be spared the wrathful judgement of God.'

Richard III would have been respectfully reburied this way if there was anyone left to recover him following his death at Bosworth. But his family were all gone and anyone left who respected him would, quite rightly, be frightened for their own lives under the new Tudor regime to attempt anything, and as we now know Richard's body was tossed into a hastily dug grave, covered and forgotten.

We can see what to expect from a medieval reburial ceremony from the reburial of Richard's own father, Richard of York, who died in the Battle at Wakefield in 1460. York was buried at Pontefract and his head placed on a spike over Micklegate Bar in York with his remains later taken for reburial at Fotheringhay. This reburial would have involved many people, three masses were known to have been sung for his soul and prayers were read, York's body would have been sprinkled with holy water before he was laid to rest, followed by a banquet were meats of capon, heron and swan were served.

The mortal remains of King Richard III lie with the University of Leicester until Sunday 22nd March when his last journey for reburial begins.

http://kingrichardinleicester.com/topics/reburial/timetable/

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Heroines: Amazing Women in History.

10/12/2014

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In its introduction to Women's History, English Heritage writes

'Women's achievements and experience have left a deep impression on the historic environment. Once exposed, this can help fill in the gaps left by previous generations' recording of history to reveal a host of fascinating and inspirational stories.'

I was amazed to discover recently via Lucy Worsley's Harlots Housewives and Heroines, a 17th Century History for Girls, that the reason women give birth on their backs was because of the intervention of men, this of course lead to midwives being outed from this important role, but also their role in history has been forgotten too. Angelique-Marguerite Le Boursier du Coudray was a eighteenth century French midwife whose book, Abrege de lart de Accouchements or the Art of Delivery was published in 1759, this amazing woman also designed and made a set of fabric anatomical demonstration aids to help teach other women her skills.

Angelique and her fabric mannequins

Women whose work was historically important, like that of Angelique's, have gone unnoticed, their names are not written into history books. Today though, more and more we are hearing about the lives of unknown women whose achievements are now being brought to us by women themselves. Many of these women we know of already from our school days, historians such as Helen Castor in her She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth talk of women who stood up to their male counterparts and the above-mentioned Lucy Worsley has written of other not so famous women, such as Aphra Behn, playwright and spy!

One of my heroines is Matilda who fought with her cousin for the throne of England, she was more than capable of being an effective ruler, but her downfall was simply the fact that she acted like a king, and as Helen Castor in her book writes

'Haughty' and 'intolerably proud' these are the adjectives associated with her name, phrases coined in those few months of her life when she tried to exercise power as a monarch in her own right'

This was not what men thought a woman should be, it was unwomanly behaviour, but they were the qualities expected of a king.

Matilda flees her captors.

Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Henry II, went on Crusade, where she led an army of women dressed in armour and was later imprisoned for supporting her son's revolt. And then there is Isabella of France, the She Wolf herself, who paraded her lover
and with him took up arms against the weak rule of her husband Edward II. There's Boudicca, Catherine of Aragon (another
of my favourites) Anne Boleyn, Queen Elizabeth, Florence Nightingale, Marie Stopes they are all icons because their story stands out. But what of the women of the Wars of the Roses, left behind to manage great estates and left vulnerable to the attack of marauding armies, the 'everyday' women, those who were not monarchs or achievers of the daring do or pioneering scientists.

Women in the past have been placed in all sorts of different categories, the pious lady, the nun, the wench and the scold. Women in literature and art are often depicted as a virgin or a whore, even this is not correct, prostitutes were more widely accepted in medieval times and nuns weren't always as saintly as we are led to believe, and as mentioned before, living quietly among them are other strong women, the ones the world knows little about. One fine example of a capable early medieval woman was my very own ancestor Margery, a descendant and kinswoman of the mighty Norman lords, the Earls of Surrey. Margery saw very early on in her marriage that all the lands held by her husband's family were gained purely by right of marriage, the vast lands of her mother-in-law and sister-in-law had been thrown into a large melting pot. Margery had no intention of this happening to her ancestral lands or her property! Margery's son was under age on the death of her husband and she feared, quite rightly, that the boy would become a ward of his paternal uncles and the lands that were hers by right would soon be managed, and finally taken by her in-laws. So angry at the thought of this she disinherited her own son rather than see her lands end up as part of the vast estates of her dead husband's family. In a very unusual move for the time she gifted her lands to a woman, who at present, seems unrelated. What Margery foresaw, turned out to be quite right, nearly all the lands owned by her husband's families descendants, for nearly four centuries, were gained by marriages to wealthy heiresses.

Holding onto what is rightfully yours.

One woman who worked in the field of medicine was Felicie de Almania who spoke of the need for women doctors to treat women patients, arguing that women received better treatment from a female physician and testifying that she had been able to cure women of ailments that male doctors had failed to do. Felicie bravely continued to practice medicine without a licence even after she was excommunicated. In the world of business were a Mrs Rutinger and a Rose of Burford, both thirteenth-century women who were successful in business and traders in wool, both ran businesses after the deaths of their husbands and in the case of Rose persistently visited the court of Edward II, insisting he pay monies owed to her late husband, eventually
suggesting that the debt be settled in refunds on export duties. There is German-born astronomer, Caroline Herschel, who discovered several comets, one of which is named after her. Then there is Lavinia Fontana a commissioned artist, who painted anything from portraits to female nudes to religious art, a confident woman who didn't work within the confines of what society saw as befitting her rank, free to paint and live her life as she pleased.

Lavinia Fontana

Between 1939 and 1945 there were women who worked in secret, looking for and breaking codes in military intelligence and whose story a recent television drama, The Bletchley Circle, is based. It is the story of four bright women who worked as code breakers during the second world war whose efforts saved the lives of hundreds if not thousands of people, who later used their skills to track down a psychotic killer who preyed on women. Apart from being a story of murder and the rape of women, it tells of how women were not taken seriously by those in authority and how they were abandoned by their own country. It was not only clever women with a talent for mathematics, all the women who 'broke their backs' doing their bit for the war effort, the
ones who worked in the fields and the ones who worked in the factories, and once the war was over and they were no longer needed, their jobs given to the returning men. The women of Bletchley signed the official secrets act and therefore were unable to tell anyone what they did during that time. This led to them being frustrated, angry and bored with their present lives and left them wanting more, but they were living with men who expected them to be happy with the role of wife and mother and didn't understand that for many it wasn't enough.

Says it all, doesn't it?

This brings us up to the present day woman, she has so much more freedom than that of her female ancestors, who had restrictions placed on them by their family, the church and their husbands and for many women, this was their lot, but as we
have seen some women cut through these ties. Girls today may have none of these things but it was said to me recently that society has 'subtle and complex ways that disadvantage and discriminate against women” and this is no surprise. I am concerned for young women when they are humiliated and harassed. I worry how they cope when all they hear is that they
are lesser beings and then I’m irritated when I see scantly clad young ladies standing in front of Formula 1 cars or parading themselves in front of darts champions. I am never quite sure whether these young women do it because they want to and are therefore empowered and confident or do it because that’s what they feel men want to see. Girls are continually bombarded
with impossible physical standards that dictate the right weight, the right shape and the right clothes to wear, leaving them to struggle with insecurities and low self-confidence. Today, women have a different sort of pressure than those of their ancestors, but it is pressure non the less. Twenty-first century women are criticised about the choices they make whether it is a career or whether it be motherhood and this can make many women's lives an unhappy one, women of the past knew what was expected of them and these restrictions made many of their lives an unhappy one too.

We've not moved on too much, have we?

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The Cholmondeley Ladies

2/12/2014

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Before you read about these two ladies below, have a guess a how their surname is pronounced? The answer is at the bottom of the blog.

The painting is known as The Cholmondeley Ladies and is an oil on wood, dated around 1600 - 1610 by an anonymous artist, presented to the Tate Gallery by an anonymous benefactor in 1955. Paintings such as this were popular through the Elizabethan and Stuart eras. The Cholmondeley family had held the lordship of Cholmondeley in Cheshire since the Norman Conquests and on this land still stands the eighteenth-century Cholmondeley Castle in which this family still lives. The sixth Marquess died at the castle in 1990 and it is the Dowager Marchioness, who is ninety-two, who now lives there. This painting formed part of the collection of Thomas Cholmondeley, and a quick glance at the women they look identical, it has been suggested that the portrait is of twins, each holding a swaddled baby. The inscription at the bottom left of the painting, says 'Two Ladies of the Cholmondeley Family, who were born the same day, married the same day, and brought to bed the same day.' This also suggests that they are identical twins but on further inspection of the women's eyes, you will find that they are of differing colours. It may be that these women are unidentical twins or married into the Cholmondeley family but it is more than likely that they are daughters or nieces of Sir Hugh and Lady Mary Cholmondeley, who had eight children.

The lady's identities are unknown.

Cholmondeley is pronounced Chumley

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Seahenge

2/12/2014

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Seahenge lies in the village of Holme-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. It is a timber circle with an upturned tree root in the centre that is thought to have been built during the early Bronze Age. Recently a second prehistoric circle has been found on the same stretch of Norfolk beach

Both sites have been eroded with seawater during the many many centuries that have passed, but archaeologists believe the two circles, which originally stood inland in boggy freshwater, were part of the same monumental complex connected with rites to honour the dead.

Archaeologists have said that, unlike the giant boulders of monuments such as Stonehenge, the only evidence for most 'prehistoric timber structures is post holes in the ground.' However, because the salty silt preserved the wood, the two circles at Holme Beach are the only ones in Britain to have been dated precisely to the year 2049 BC.

David Robertson, historic environment officer at Norfolk county council who ran the Holme II dating project, said he believed the circle may originally have been covered by a burial mound, with the central logs supporting a coffin.

"As the timbers used in both timber circles were felled at the same time, the construction of the two monuments must have been directly linked. Seahenge is thought to have been a free-standing timber circle, possibly to mark the death of an individual, acting as a cenotaph symbolising death rather than a location for burial. If part of a burial mound, the second circle would have been the actual burial place. The inevitable destruction of the monument will be monitored, but there are no plans for further excavation."

The images of both Seahenges have an eerie feel to them, we can see posts half submerged and the upended stump of a giant oak tree in the original Seahenge. Seahenge's timber were excavated and can be viewed in a local museum but this second find is still in situ. Archaeologists monitoring its decay have just released the dating evidence, obtained by dendrochronology, that is counting the growth rings in the timbers. This has shown that this 'Seahenge' was built from trees felled in the spring or summer of 2049 BC which is exactly the same time as the Seahenge timbers. These timbers revealed the oldest marks of metal axes ever found in Britain, showing that bronze tools were being used for complex woodwork within a century of the introduction of bronze smelting. The marks of at least 36 separate axes were found which suggests it was a project undertaken by a community as a whole.

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