Holt Castle from the Air, Early 14Th Century

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Egerton 1894, folio 5v folio 1894, Egerton Artist: Phil Kenning. © Wrexham Heritage Service, 2014 2014 Service, Heritage Wrexham © Kenning. Phil Artist:

17th century illustrations and plans, a modern survey and the 2012–14 excavations. excavations. 2012–14 the and survey modern a plans, and illustrations century 17th

14th century century 14th Holt Castle from the air, early 14th century. The CAD drawing is based on 16th and and 16th on based is drawing CAD The century. 14th early air, the from Castle Holt

labourers at work, work, at labourers Medieval masons and and masons Medieval In 1353 the FitzAlans inherited Holt Castle. Richard FitzAlan, earl of Arundel, was a In 1400 a land dispute between Owain Glyndŵr and Reginald de Grey, lord of leading opponent of King Richard II. In 1397 the king accused Arundel of treason, Ruthin, escalated into a national uprising against Henry IV. Thomas FitzAlan had seized his lands and executed him. The increasingly dictatorial king decided to little chance during the next ten years to enjoy his inheritance because the convert Holt Castle into his personal treasury. Richard II visited Holt on several Welsh laid waste his lands, burnt his property and threatened his castle at Holt. occasions in 1398 and he employed 20 masons and 20 carpenters to work on However, the village, almost equally split between Welsh and English residents, making the castle even more secure. In September that year, Richard supplied the stayed loyal to the king and the castle never fell to the forces of Glyndŵr. garrison with ‘200 hauberks, 60 hatchets, 300 bows, 200 arrows, 30 crossbows, 2000 quarrels and 80 pounds of gunpowder’ — surely enough to secure the castle for the Sir William Stanley became steward of the lordship of Bromfield and Yale in 1467. king. Over the winter, despite the poor roads, the king ordered the transfer of over He spent the next two decades amassing wealth, acquiring land and securing £40,000 of cash, precious gems and valuables from the Tower of London to Holt, out lucrative government positions. In 1484 as a reward for backing Richard III in of reach of Parliament and the king’s many enemies. his power grab, Stanley was made lord of Bromfield and Yale. Stanley moved into Holt Castle and by famously switching sides at the Battle of Bosworth in

1485, he benefited from another regime change. His greed and ego brought

Welsh property. Welsh about his eventual downfall. In 1495 he backed a plot to replace Henry VII

intended to hold on to their their to on hold to intended (Henry Tudor) on the throne. His end was swift once his treachery was

proof that the earls of Surrey Surrey of earls the that proof uncovered – Stanley was sent to the tower,

) – – ) novum castrum

new castle ( castle new while the king ordered commissioners

Bromfield and Yale refers to a a to refers Yale and Bromfield to Holt Castle to compile a list of all

in 1308. The 1315 survey of of survey 1315 The 1308. in Stanley’s worldly goods. The room

earlier grant of land by de Warenne Warenne de by land of grant earlier by room inventory is a wonderful

is a mention of castle guard duties in an an in duties guard castle of mention a is source on the castle’s layout, as

) dates to 1311, although there there although 1311, to dates ) Chastellion

( well as revealing he had over

project. The first reference to Holt Castle Castle Holt to reference first The project. £9,000 in cash stored on the Building Holt Castle was a major construction construction major a was Castle Holt Building premises at the time of his

execution in 1495.

fortress in Holt Castle. Holt in fortress the earl’s Welsh headquarters. headquarters. Welsh earl’s the

across the River Dee was an ideal location for for location ideal an was Dee River the across the origins of the design, de Warenne and his grandson created an impressive impressive an created grandson his and Warenne de design, the of origins the

England, a priority. Holt with its strategic ford ford strategic its with Holt priority. a England, been developed by castle builders in Spain and the Crusader states. Regardless of of Regardless states. Crusader the and Spain in builders castle by developed been

with good communication links back to to back links communication good with barbican tower controlling access from the outer bailey to the main castle had had castle main the to bailey outer the from access controlling tower barbican

made the construction of an impregnable castle castle impregnable an of construction the made had encountered many castles in his military career. The idea of a stepping stone stone stepping a of idea The career. military his in castles many encountered had

de Warenne temporarily lost control of his Welsh lands. The continued opposition opposition continued The lands. Welsh his of control lost temporarily Warenne de he was aware of the latest defensive techniques. He was a well-travelled man and and man well-travelled a was He techniques. defensive latest the of aware was he

new regime and they rebelled in 1287. During a second uprising in 1294, 1294, in uprising second a During 1287. in rebelled they and regime new John de Warenne had experience of building, improving and besieging castles and and castles besieging and improving building, of experience had Warenne de John

to the earl of Surrey on 7th October 1282. The Welsh were not keen on the king’s king’s the on keen not were Welsh The 1282. October 7th on Surrey of earl the to

determines the position of the curtain walls and the towers. the and walls curtain the of position the determines Yale, and Bromfield of lordship the Wrexham, around lands the granted I Edward

of a symmetrical structure. This is in contrast to many castles where the landscape landscape the where castles many to contrast in is This structure. symmetrical a of

today at Denbigh, Ruthin, Chirk and Holt. and Chirk Ruthin, Denbigh, at today

In the case of Holt Castle, the landscape was re-shaped to allow the construction construction the allow to re-shaped was landscape the Castle, Holt of case the In Richard II meets the soldiers of the earl of Northumberland on the road to Chester, Henry VII, king of England, marcher lords built a castle to serve as his power base – these castles survive survive castles these – base power his as serve to castle a built lords marcher from La Prinse et Mort du Roy Richart, by Jean Creton, Paris, France, c.1401-05 by an unknown Dutch artist,

© The British Library, Harley 1319, folio 44 rewarded his supporters with lands in north-east Wales and each of these these of each and Wales north-east in lands with supporters his rewarded barbican tower that controlled access to the castle’s entrance. entrance. castle’s the to access controlled that tower barbican oil on panel, 1505. Henry Tudor

campaign against Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, prince of Wales in 1282–83. Edward I I Edward 1282–83. in Wales of prince Gruffudd, ap Llywelyn against campaign stone to build a pentagonal (five-sided) castle. There was an additional stand-alone stand-alone additional an was There castle. (five-sided) pentagonal a build to stone visited Holt Castle following

the arrest of William Stanley Edward I and fought alongside the king of England in his successful military military successful his in England of king the alongside fought and I Edward larger than the one you see today. Quarrying out the moat provided the necessary necessary the provided moat the out Quarrying today. see you one the than larger The king’s plans failed when his support melted away following Henry Bolingbroke’s

for treason. grandson, the seventh and eighth earls of Surrey. De Warenne was a friend of of friend a was Warenne De Surrey. of earls eighth and seventh the grandson,

surrounding a sandstone plinth. The castle was built around this plinth, which was was which plinth, this around built was castle The plinth. sandstone a surrounding return from exile in 1399. Henry, the king’s cousin, wanted his lands back and

The castle was built between 1283 and 1311 by John de Warenne and his his and Warenne de John by 1311 and 1283 between built was castle The

cliffs that drop down to the flood plain of the River Dee to create a deep ditch ditch deep a create to Dee River the of plain flood the to down drop that cliffs among his supporters was Thomas FitzAlan, son of the executed earl of Arundel. NPG 416

Holt Castle is situated on the banks of the River Dee on the England-Wales border. border. England-Wales the on Dee River the of banks the on situated is Castle Holt The first job of the workforce building the castle was to quarry away the sandstone sandstone the away quarry to was castle the building workforce the of job first The Holt Castle surrendered to Henry without a fight on 9th August and, according to the

chroniclers, it held treasure to the value of 100,000 marks (£66,000). Seven days later,

Richard was arrested and imprisoned in Flint Castle. The new king, Henry IV, restored

The Pentagon The The Symbol of a New Order New a of Symbol The Thomas FitzAlan to his lands, including the castle at Holt.

Slight & Salvage Plans & Elevations

Thomas Grosvenor, a Cheshire landowner, bought the right to salvage stone from Henry VII confiscated Holt Castle from Sir William Stanley and it remained in royal hands the castle. He removed much of the dressed masonry between 1675 and 1682, for the next 150 years. On occasion, when short of money, the monarch would order the stone being shipped down river to help build a mansion outside Chester. a survey of the royal property portfolio to see whether rents could be increased or assets sold off for cash. The surveys involved surveyors visiting the royal estates and The townsfolk of Holt enjoyed reclaiming the castle and its grounds. In the questioning the locals. Holt Castle was the symbol of royal power in the lordship of 19th century, the castle was the site of village fetes and dances – its romantic Bromfield and Yale and the 1562 and 1620 surveys contain illustrations and plans of ruins being an obvious attraction for parties. the castle. The two surveys’ differences over certain details, in both the plans and the elevations, specifically the shape of the towers, have continued to vex archaeologists In 2006 conservation work was and historians. The 1562 survey’s drawings have proved to be the more accurate of the undertaken to prevent the collapse of two surveys. the remaining walls owing to the erosion of the sandstone bedrock underneath. Researchers from Holt Local The 1562 drawing shows Archaeological excavations between History Society discovered the stone lion above 2012 and 2014 helped pinpoint the another plan of the castle the entrance gate that location of the castle’s curtain walls and from the early 1600s in the possibly gave the castle towers making it possible to appreciate Duchy of Cornwall papers at the its initial name. the size and proportions of Holt’s © British Museum, Harley National Library of Wales. Ms. 2073, folio 112 hidden castle. This plan shows a modified chapel tower with a water Holt Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. gate providing access to the No ground disturbance or metal detecting is The Slight Remains of Holt Castle on the Dee, River Dee. Without these plans allowed within the protected area without John Warwick Smith, 1784 and elevations, producing the consent from Cadw. © The National Library of Wales reconstruction drawings would have proved impossible.

Holt Castle is located at the bottom of a narrow footpath leading from Castle Gardens, off Castle Street (LL13 9AX). The castle is less than five minutes’ walk from the village Siege & Surrender centre. Stout shoes or boots are recommended; wellies in wet weather, especially during winter months. Parking: off Green Street (LL13 9JF).

This leaflet is one of three leaflets produced as part of the Holt Castle Conservation and John Norden recorded the castle’s neglected state in 1620. With war between Interpretation Project – Holt: Legacy of the Legions; Holt: From Frontier Town to Peaceful King and Parliament imminent, the royalists rushed to patch up the defences and fix the roof. Castles once again had a purpose. In November 1643, Village; and Holt: The Lion’s Castle. The notes on the plan and elevation in Norden’s Survey Sir William Brereton’s Parliamentary troops seized the strategic bridge between provide an insight into how the Farndon and Holt from the king’s men. The castle proved more of a challenge castle was used in the early and held out for Charles I under Colonel John Robinson of Gwersyllt. 17th century. Norden names the outbuildings and records the Holt Bridge changed hands repeatedly over the next two years. Chester fell various uses of the castle grounds. to Parliament in February 1646, but capturing Holt Castle presented its own John Norden surveyed Holt Castle challenges. The garrison rushed out and burned down all the buildings the and the lordship of Bromfield and Roundheads were using as cover to attack the castle, and in May 1646 the Yale for the young Charles I, who Parliamentary commander wrote that only starvation would force the royalists had been granted the lordship inside to surrender. Flattened lead musket balls were found during the 2012 when he became prince of Wales in 1616. excavations in the castle courtyard proving some effort was made to capture © British Museum, Harley Ms. 3696, the castle. Sir Richard Lloyd of Esclus Hall, Wrexham, finally surrendered the Text: Wrexham Heritage Service, 2014 folio 5 castle in early January 1647 once he had accepted that the king’s cause was lost. Reconstruction illustrations: Phil Kenning Graphic design: Headland, Farndon