A-Z Challenge - F
Fotheringhay Castle and Mary Queen of Scots
The village
of Fotheringhay is situated six
kilometres north east of Oundle in the county of Northamptonshire.
There is nothing left of its castle today other than the motte on which it was
built which provides excellent views of the River Nene.
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| Site of Fotheringhay Castle - 2009 |
Site of Fotheringhay
Castle The motte and bailey is all
that remains of Fotheringhay
Castle, where Mary, Queen
of Scots was executed. Behind is the modern Castle Barn and beyond, Fotheringhay Church.
The Norman castle was built around 1100.
The motte topped by a stone keep was surrounded by a moat. King Edward III
(1312-77) rebuilt the Norman castle and granted it to his son, Edward, Duke of
York. In 1452 the wife of a later Duke of York gave birth to the future Richard
III. The reign of Richard III was short (1483 – 85) as he was killed at the
Bosworth during the War of the Roses.
Henry VIII gave it to Catherine of Aragon
as part of her dowry but she refused to go there. The castle became infamous as
the site for the imprisonment and execution of the tragic Mary, Queen of Scots.
She was tried and convicted for treason and beheaded in the Great Hall on 8th
February 1587.
(If you are squeamish you may want to give
the video a miss)
The castle fell into disrepair and in 1627
it was razed to the ground, its fixtures and fittings sold. The great horned
windows and the staircase down which Mary walked to her execution ended up in
the Talbot Hotel in Oundle. Reputedly Mary’s face is seen occasionally gazing
out at passers-by.
Hilary Melton-Butcher's Castle E - Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire
Attributions
- Site of Fotheringhay Castle: By Ian Simpson 2009 – Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. (Geograph Project Collection)
-
Video: Execution scene taken from the BBC series 'Elizabeth R' (1971). Starring Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth and Vivian Pickles as Mary, Queen of Scots. No copyright infringement intended
17 comments:
Hi Bob .. Fotheringhay Castle had a very chequered history didn't it - yet has lots of important historical connections. I'd like to see the horned windows and staircase sometime .. obviously a trip to the Talbot Hotel ..
Glad our castles are once again different - similarities in ruins though!
Cheers Hilary
I remember being interested in this castle when I read Jean Plaidy’s novel,”The Royal Road to Fotheringay” - without the ‘h’. We were talking about ‘Elizabeth R’ after watching ‘She Wolves’ on TV. What a great series ‘Elizabeth R' was, with wonderful actors.
What a shame it was razed to the ground. Maybe North Americans are right, the efforts they put into heritage buildings.
It's really quite horrifying that it took three strokes of the axe. No wonder Anne Boleyn wanted a sharp sword.
Your blog is always very interesting. Thanks
Castles - how delightful. There are none in America . . . though The Biltmore House in Asheville, NC comes as close as I can think of. Thanks for stopping by my blog, I look forward to lusting after all the sites you post.
I'm amazed they built these castle towers so high with what little technology they had. Lots of grunt labor and many years to build a castle.
I would love to see the great staircase and those horned windows when we go to England. I do not blame Catherine of Aragon though. I'm sure I wouldn't have wanted to go near the place, knowing its history.
Great castle Bob! I am learning lots from you and Hilary.
I'm a bit squemish so I didn't partake of the video but I loved the castle and history.
dreamweaver
Thanks for the warning. I didn't watch the video. Do you believe these ghostly sightings?
Hi, Bob, I didn't watch the video, but I'm hoping she wasn't executed inside the building. I can well imagine that nobody would want to live there after that.
Lovely pictures in all your posts.
Heather
Yikes! Thanks for the warning about the video. I love castles, though, and learning about other places. Too bad this one is no longer around.
I love your blog. I'll have to keep coming back. I'll bet I can learn a lot here.
Happy blog hopping!
We must have visited a 100 castles when our son was young, but never this one, obviously. Spooky about the face looking out... of the hotel window!
How interesting!
What a fantastic theme for the challenge! The history of castles is so fascinating.
Ellie
Ellie's Blank Book
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Help Michigan Pets
I recently saw again the movie "Elizabeth", so, this is nice to see a bit of the land, despite her tragic end...
:/~
HUGZ
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