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Woodcroft Castle

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Moated medieval castle in Etton, Cambridgeshire, England

Woodcroft Castle
Cambridgeshire, England
Woodcroft Castle
Woodcroft Castle is located in CambridgeshireWoodcroft CastleWoodcroft Castle
Coordinates52°37′35″N 0°19′02″W / 52.6263°N 0.3172°W / 52.6263; -0.3172
Grid referencegrid reference TF140045
TypeEdwardian castle
Site information
Open to
the public		No
Site history
MaterialsStone
EventsThe English Civil War

Woodcroft Castle is a moated medieval castle in the parish of Etton, Cambridgeshire, England.

History

Woodcroft Castle was built at the end of the 13th century near the city of Peterborough in the Soke of Peterborough (now in Cambridgeshire). The medieval portions of the castle today include the front range, the circular tower, and the gatehouse. There is debate as to whether the castle originally followed a normal Edwardian quadrilateral design, of which most has since been lost, or if it was never completed. Early Tudor additions (late 1400s) retained these medieval elements in the current design.

Woodcroft Castle was briefly held by the Royalists during the Second English Civil War and was attacked and taken by Parliamentarian forces in June 1648. Michael Hudson, commander of the Royalist forces had attempted to raise forces for the King in Stamford but was cornered by Parliamentarian forces under Colonel Thomas Waite and took refuge in the castle, which belonged to William FitzWilliam, 2nd Baron FitzWilliam, a Parliamentarian supporter. The siege lasted less than 48 hours, and ended with the death of Hudson, when he refused to surrender the building, and again refused to surrender when trapped at the top of the main tower.

The castle is a Grade II* listed building and the 18th-century barn and stable range is Grade II. The castle is a private dwelling.

See also

From Memorials of Old Northamptonshire (1903)

References

  1. Pettifer, p.168.
  2. Pettifer, p.168.
  3. Pettifer, p.168; Woodcroft Castle, The Gatehouse, accessed 21 April 2011.
  4. Pettifer, p.168.
  5. Pettifer, p.168.
  6. Graham, Evans (2020). The Battles and Battlefields of Northamptonshire. Northamptonshire: Northamptonshire Battlefields Society. pp. 133–139. ISBN 9798623780270.
  7. Historic England, "Woodcroft Castle (1126782)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 6 January 2018

Bibliography

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