Beckington Castle

Has been described as a Rejected Masonry Castle

There are major building remains

NameBeckington Castle
Alternative NamesRavenscroft School
Historic CountrySomerset
Modern AuthoritySomerset
1974 AuthoritySomerset
Civil ParishBeckington

This is not a castle but a house which has been given a fanciful history stretching back to 1140 and a pageant of important owners including two of Henry VIII's wives. The builder was probably William Long, a wealthy Wiltshire clothier who died in 1558; and it was the home of the first two earls of Marlborough in the early seventeenth century. Not until 1839 was it called Castle House. All the rest of the nonsense stems from that silly piece of Victorian 'romanticism and pretence'. (Dunning 1995)

Gatehouse Comments

Whilst not a castle the three storey crenellated, mid C16, porch does show the enduring fascination with militaristic symbolism.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law

Historic England Scheduled Monument Number
Historic England Listed Building number(s)
Images Of England
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceST799515
Latitude51.2622985839844
Longitude-2.28802990913391
Eastings379994
Northings151502
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink
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Books

  • Dunning, Robert, 1995, Somerset Castles (Somerset Books) p. 71-2, 73
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1958, Buildings of England: North Somerset and Bristol (Harmondsworth) p. 142

Journals

  • McGarvie, M., 1993 Sept, The Somerset Magazine p. 40-43
  • 1908 April 4, Country Life

Other

  • Hollinrake, C. and Hollinrake, N. 1993, Beckington Castle, Beckington, Somerset - an archaeological evaluation_  Unpublished C and N Hollinrake report No: 35