Boarstall Tower facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Boarstall Tower |
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| Near Boarstall, Buckinghamshire in England | |
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 Boarstall Tower
Shown within Buckinghamshire
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| Coordinates | 51°49′24″N 001°05′44″W / 51.82333°N 1.09556°W |
| Type | moated gatehouse |
| Site information | |
| Owner | National Trust |
| Open to the public |
Wednesday afternoons |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1312 |
| In use | 1312-Unknown |
Boarstall Tower is an amazing 14th-century building in Boarstall, Buckinghamshire, England. It's a moated gatehouse, which means it's a strong tower with a ditch of water around it. This type of building was often built to protect a larger house.
Today, Boarstall Tower and its beautiful gardens are owned by the National Trust. Before March 2020, you could take tours on Wednesday afternoons. The tower was closed for a while during the pandemic, but it has recently started to open again on special dates in the summer.
Contents
The Story of Boarstall Tower
A Legend from Long Ago
The story of Boarstall begins with a legend! It's said that King Edward the Confessor, a very old English king, gave some land to one of his brave men. This was a reward for killing a huge wild boar that was causing trouble in the nearby Bernwood Forest.
The man built a large house on this land. He called it "Boar-stall," which means 'Boar House' in Old English, to remember the fierce beast he defeated. The legend also says that the man, named Neil, received a horn from the dead boar. Whoever owned this horn would become the lord of the manor of Boarstall. This meant they would be the main owner and ruler of the land.
Early History and Fortification
Records from 1265 show that the owner of the Boarstall manor was the official keeper of the Bernwood Forest. This suggests a real connection to the old legend.
In 1312, the manor was made stronger with a defensive gatehouse. This gatehouse is what we now call Boarstall Tower. The main house was taken down in 1778, but the gatehouse, which was very big and grand for its time, is still standing almost exactly as it was built.
Boarstall Tower During the English Civil War
Boarstall Tower played an important part in the English Civil War. This was a big conflict in England between supporters of King Charles I (called Royalists) and supporters of Parliament (called Parliamentarians).
- 1643: King Charles I used the tower as a garrison. A garrison is a group of soldiers stationed in a place to defend it. When the nearby village of Brill was captured by Parliamentarian forces in 1643, Boarstall's garrison also fell. But unlike Brill, Boarstall's manor house was saved. It was then used by John Hampden's Parliamentarian soldiers. From here, they could attack Oxford, which was a Royalist stronghold about 8 miles away.
- 1644: John Hampden's men left Boarstall to fight elsewhere. The Royalists, led by Colonel Henry Gage, took the house back. It's said that Colonel Gage fired so many cannons at the house that the lady living there, Penelope, Lady Dynham, had to sneak away in disguise! Gage left a small group of soldiers to protect the house.
- 1645: In May, Parliamentarian forces, led by Sir Thomas Fairfax, attacked the house again but couldn't capture it.
- 1646: The next year, Sir Thomas Fairfax returned. After a siege (a military blockade) of 18 hours, the house was finally given up to him on June 10th.
Later, the Dynham family got Boarstall back. They were lucky because they had relatives who were close to Oliver Cromwell, a very powerful leader of the Parliamentarian side.
The Boar's Horn Returns
In 1806, a book called Magna Britannia mentioned that the owner of the manor at that time, Sir John Aubrey, 6th Baronet, had a large horn. The book described it as: "a dark brown colour, with patterns like a tortoise-shell. It is two feet four inches long along its curve. The wider end is three inches across. Both ends are tipped with silver and gold, and it has a leather strap to hang it around the neck." This sounds a lot like the legendary boar's horn!
Boarstall Tower was later given to the National Trust by a kind person named Ernest Cook. He also started the Ernest Cook Trust, which helps with education and conservation.
See also
