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On Donnington Castle, Berkshire. by HENRY GODWIN, Esq

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On Donnington Castle, Berkshire. by HENRY GODWIN, Esq XXIX.—On Donnington Castle, Berkshire. By HENRY GODWIN, Esq. F.S.A. Read February 13th, 1873. ON the brow of a hill situate about a mile to the north of the market town of Newbury in Berkshire stand the picturesque ruins of Donnington Castle. The castle derives its name from the little village of Donnington, which is linked with the adjoining hamlet of Shaw in the parochial designation of Shaw-cum- Donm'ngton—a rural district, divided from the parish of Speen by the tiny river Lamborne, which, to use the quaint expression of Sylvester, in haste doth run To wash the feet of Chaucer's Donnington." The castle, of which the existing ruins formed the towered gateway only, was erected in 1385 by Richard de Abberbury, guardian of Richard II. during his minority, under a licence to crenellate granted to him by that monarch.1" Erom the peculiar language of this royal licence, " Quod Ric'us Abberbury quoddam castrum in solo suo proprio apud Donyngton in com. Berks de novo constituere, ac petra, &c, kernellare," it may be inferred that the new structure was the re-edification of a former castle, and this inference is corroborated by a statement of Grose's that " by a MS. in the Cotton Library it appears that in the time of Edward II. it belonged to Walter Abberbury, son and heir of Thomas Abberbury, who gave the King c s. for it."c Certain it is, the family of Abberbury, or Adderbury, was connected with Berkshire as early as 1291; for in that year Edward I. granted the right of free warren over Donnington and Bradley to Thomas Abberbury, probably the person above named.d The antiquary Grose has given an excellent ground plan of the castle; from a Du Bartas's Works and Weeks, Third Day of the Week, Sylvester's Trans, p. 24. •> 9 Rich. II. Cal. Rot. Pat. 213. c Grose's Antiquities of Berkshire, p. 5. d 20 Edward I. Cal. Rot. Chart, p. 122. 3N 2 460 Dormmgton Castle, Berkshire. which it will be seen that its walls fronted the four cardinal points, and were defended by four round towers; its west end terminated in a semi-octagon; and at its east was a stone gate-house 40 feet long,. flanked with two high round towers, and guarded by a portcullis. Its length east and west, reckoning the thickness of the walls, was 120 feet; and its breadth, including the towers, 85 feet.a It could hardly be better described than in the language of Camden, " a small but very neat castle seated on the banks of a woody hill, having a fair prospect and windows on all sides, very lightsome."" Its small dimensions deserve the more notice as presenting a striking contrast with its wide renown. Its tall, towered gateway and labelled windows exhibit a fine specimen of early Perpendicular architecture. The erection of the castle could scarcely have been completed before its owner obtained a grant from the Crown of the manors of Donnington, Winterbourne, and Peasemore. This grant bears date 13S7.C Hardly had Richard de Abberbury secured this retreat from the political storms which began to threaten, and shortly afterwards so miserably to over- whelm, his monarch and former ward, than he too experienced the mutability of fortune; for Holinshed informs us that in 1388 he was expelled from Court by the discontented lords on account of his loyalty—and this event, or its immediate consequence, seems referred to in a very brief note in the Patent Rolls of 1390, recording his dismissal, together with that of John de Lovell and Richard le Scrope, from the councils of the King.d The last express mention which I find of the builder of Donnington Castle is in a royal licence, granted to him in 1392, to build and endow almshouses, with a house for the master or minister, in his manor of Donnington.6 It may however, 1 think, be inferred that Richard de Abberbury was living in 1397 ; for he had a son of the same name, to whom John of Gaunt by his will, dated 3rd Eebruary, 1397, bequeathed a legacy of 50 marks, by the description of Mons. Ric. Abber- bury le fils.f Perhaps it will not be deemed an unpardonable digression, if I add that a beaked helmet, supposed to have belonged to this Sir Richard Abberbury, was discovered at Donnington Castle, and is now in the armoury of the Tower of a Grose, ut supra, p. 8. b Camd. Britan. i. 216. c 11, 12, and 13 Rich. II. Cal. Rot. Chart, p. 191. d Johannes de Lovell, Kicus le Scrop et Ricus Abberbury a conciliis Regis. 14 Rich. II. Cal. Rot. Pat. 221. Also Holinshed, edit. 1807, ii. 793. e 16 Rich. II. Cal. Rot. Pat. p. 226. f Nichols's Royal Wills, p. 159. Donnington Castle, Berkshire. 461 London. It is made of iron, in four pieces, and weighs 13 lbs. 4 oz.; its height is I85- inches." Hitherto our course has lain along the safe though sometimes dull road of history, but here for a short space that road disappears, effaced by the plough- share of destruction which left so many deep furrows in this country during the wars of the Roses. Nature is said to abhor a vacuum; certainly she weaves her fairest garlands to conceal destruction and decay; accordingly, no sooner does this hiatus occur, than tradition and poetry hasten to hide or rather to embellish it. In the present instance they have combined to place before us one of the most charming tableaux imaginable. Froissart presenting his illuminated chronicle to Queen Philippa—Virgil reading his epic to Octavia—do not surpass in beauty the following picture by Elias Ashmole:—"Donnington Castle," says Ashmole, " became the seat of Sir Geoffrey Chaucer, the prince of English poetry; who composed many of his celebrated pieces under an oak in this park."b This oak is mentioned by Speght, an early editor of Chaucer's works :—" Donnington Castle," says Speght, " standeth in a park in Barkshire, not far from Newbery, where to this day standeth an elde oke called Chaucer's Oke." It is not surprising that this picture has attracted many copyists. It would be tedious to enumerate them, for the list embraces nearly all the biographers of Chaucer and the topographers of Berkshire from the middle of the sixteenth to the beginning of the nineteenth century, and includes the names of Camden, Urry, Bishop Gibson, Evelyn, Aubrey, Grose, and Godwin. I shall confine myself to two specimens of their productions :—The first is from Evelyn, who has introduced two or three new features, which we shall find by no means unimportant. Evelyn, when descanting on celebrated oaks, proceeds as follows:— " Nor are we to overpass those memorable trees which so lately flourished in Donnington park near Newberry, amongst which three were most remarkable, from the original planter and dedicator (if tradition hold), the famous English bard Geofrey Chaucer; of which one was called the King's, another the Queen's, and a third Chaucer's oak."c The second example is supplied by the antiquary Aubrey, which enables us to trace the venerable tree under which Chaucer is supposed to have sat (but which we can hardly be expected to believe was planted by him in his 70th year), a Godwin's English Archaeologist's Handbook, p. 259. b Ashmole's Antiquities of Berkshire, vol. ii. 285. c Evelyn's Forest Trees, fol. London 1664, p. 83. 462 Donnington Castle, Berkshire. to its final destruction—an event which it is gratifying to find was avenged by the Star Chamber, whose judge is said to have delivered an oration on the occasion. Aubrey's singular narrative is as follows:—" Donnington Castle, near Newbury, was Sir Geoffrey Chaucer's, a noble seat and strong castle, which was held by King Ch. I., but since dismanteled. Mem.: Neer this castle was an oake under which Sir Geoffrey was wont to sitt, called Chaucer's Oake, wch was cutt downe by temp. Car. lma, and so it was that was called into the Starre Chamber, and was fined for it. Judge Richardson harangued against him long, and, like an orator, had topiques from the Druids, &c. Note : This information I had from an able attorney that was at the hearing."" Had the Star Chamber never acted more arbitrarily, it might have braved popular indignation some years longer; but I consider it fortunate for myself that this tribunal has been swept away; for, if the person who deprived the fair landscape of the oak were deserving of a fine, what punishment, it may be asked, is too severe for him who would seek to remove the far more interesting figure of Chaucer himself from the scene ? And yet, such is at present my unfortunate task; and I may be allowed to call it unfortunate, as few persons can have more reasons than I have to deplore the severance of the poet Chaucer from Donnington Castle. This castle has been familiar to me from my childhood. I cannot walk in my garden or grounds without seeing it; it is one of the first objects which greet my eye in the morning, and almost the last which fades from my sight on a summer's evening; and, picturesque though it is, its principal charm to me was its association with the venerable bard. The simple fact however is, that the connection of the poet Chaucer with Donnington Castle having been impugned by Sir Harris Nicolas, in his Aldine edition of Chaucer's works,b I was induced to investigate the subject, in the hope of re-establishing the tradition upon a more secure basis.
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