Siege of Brampton Castle
Who Fought
Royalists: approximately 700 cavalry and infantry under Sir William Vavasour. Parliamentarians: approximately 50 soldiers and 50 civilians, commanded by Lady Brilliana Harley
History & Significance
Brampton Bryan Castle is a ruined medieval castle in the village of Brampton Bryan in north-western Herefordshire, England, 50m south of the River Teme. The castle guarded an important route from Ludlow along the Teme Valley to Knighton and on into Central Wales.
The standing remains are a Grade I listed building consisting of local sandstone rubble and ashlar that represent several phases of construction. The standing remains consist of an outer gate house and parts of the inner gatehouse and part of the south wall of the kitchen range and the great hall. The site also contains the buried remains of a quadrangular castle.
The earliest documentary evidence of the site mentions a "tower with curtilage" on the site in 1295. At its height and after several phases of development the medieval layout appears to have sat on a motte and was surrounded by a moat. Access was via a bridge from the south which led into a gatehouse in the southern curtain wall. This was a large building consisting of an inner gatehouse to which a larger outer gatehouse, which projected out from the curtain wall, was added at a later date. The passage through the gatehouse led into a square courtyard which was surrounded by ranges of buildings that abutted the curtain walls. The great hall was located on the first floor of the northern range, with the kitchens to the east. The other ranges consisted of private accommodation and ancillary buildings such as stables.
The castle ruins are built out of local sandstone rubble and ashlar, and are listed as Grade I. These ruins represent several phases of construction, and include the outer gatehouse, part of the inner gatehouse and part of the south wall of the hall and kitchen range. Landscaping for the later house and gardens have obscured the full extent of the castle buildings but it is thought that the steep slope to the north of the hall range wall represents the northern edge of the original motte.
The demesne is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) although the actual date of its foundation remains uncertain. The earliest reference to a building on the site is a "tower with curtilage' in 1295. During the previous year the owner Bryan de Brampton had died and Robert Harley inherited the castle through marriage to his daughter Margaret. For almost 700 years since the castle has remained in the Harley family. It was severely damaged in 1642 during the Civil War.
The castle was almost entirely destroyed during the English Civil War. Robert Harley (died 1656) was a Puritan and served as a Member of Parliament. Situated in a predominantly Royalist county, the estate and castle were vulnerable to attack. Robert Harley left the defence of the castle in the hands of his wife, Brilliana. Brilliana was the daughter of Sir Edward and Dorothy Conway, of Ragley in Warwickshire, and became Robert Harley's third wife in March 1624.
The ground they fought on
The site of Siege of Brampton Castle lies on Wenlock Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.
Lady Brilliana Harley's defence of Brampton Bryan Castle against a besieging force roughly seven times the size of her own garrison stands as a remarkable episode of the English Civil War. Writing to her son Sir Edward Harley in December 1642, she had warned that her neighbours were in 'mighty violence' against her, yet she held firm through sustained cannon fire, the burning of the entire surrounding village, and the plundering of all livestock, suffering only one fatality among her defenders while nearly a tenth of the attacking force were killed or wounded before the Royalists finally withdrew on 9 September 1643.
- Parliamentary garrison: one killed, a few injured. Royalist attackers: nearly a tenth of their force killed or wounded
Frequently Asked Questions
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- Brampton Bryan Castle · Wikipedia
- Brampton Bryan · Wikipedia