Beaumys Castle

Beaumys Castle, also known as Beams Castle, was a 14th-century fortified manor house in the parish of Swallowfield in the English county of Berkshire.

Beaumys Castle
Swallowfield, Berkshire, England
Beaumys Castle is located in Berkshire
Beaumys Castle
Beaumys Castle
Coordinates51.3760°N 0.9813°W / 51.3760; -0.9813
Grid referencegrid reference SU710646
TypeFortified manor house
Site information
ConditionEarthworks

History

Beaumys Castle was a manor in the parish of Swallowfied, given to Sir Nicholas de la Beche in 1335. De la Beche received a licence to crenellate in 1338 and produced a fortified manor house.[1] The castle was rectangular, protected by earthworks approximately 130m by 110m across, surrounded by a water-filled moat, with the castle accessed from an entrance to the north-west.[2]

De la Beche died, leaving the manor to his wife Margery, who in turn remarried,[1] to Thomas Arderne.[3] On Arderne's death in 1347, however, John de Dalton and a small group of followers broke into the castle, where they killed Michael de Poynings, an important nobleman; terrified Lionel, the son of Edward III who was staying there at the time; stole £1,000 worth of goods, and seized Margaret, whom, as a wealthy widow, was forced to marry John.

The surrounding manor was broken up in 1420; the surviving earthworks are a scheduled monument.[4]

See also

Bibliography

  • MacKenzie, James Dixon. (1896/2009) The Castles of England: Their Story and Structure. General Books LLC. ISBN 978-1-150-51044-1.

References

  1. Mackenzie, p.170.
  2. Beaumys Castle Monument No. 237298 Archived 2012-03-25 at the Wayback Machine, National Monuments Record, English Heritage, accessed 18 August 2012.
  3. Ford, David Nash (2011). "Margery Poynings (d. 1349)". Royal Berkshire History. Nash Ford Publishing. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  4. Beaumys Castle Archived 2012-03-25 at the Wayback Machine, National Monuments Record, English Heritage, accessed 13 June 2011
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