Pleshey Castle facts for kids

The motte and 15th-century brick bridge at Pleshey Castle

Pleshey Castle is a special kind of castle called a motte and bailey castle. It's located in Pleshey, a village in Essex, England. This castle was built a very long time ago, in the 11th century (the 1000s). It's one of the best-kept motte and bailey castles in all of England.

What is Pleshey Castle?

Pleshey Castle was first mentioned in old records around 1143. But archaeologists, who study old things, believe it was actually finished earlier, between 1096 and 1106. It was built as a motte and bailey castle. This means it had a tall, man-made hill called a "motte." On top of the motte, there was a wooden fence (a palisade) and a tower.

Around the motte were two large, open areas called "baileys." These were like castle yards. Early on, the whole castle was also surrounded by a ditch filled with water, known as a moat. Today, you can still see the earthworks (the shaped land) of the motte and the south bailey. The north bailey was flattened in the 1200s. But you can still see its shape in the curved streets of the modern village.

The Motte: A Big Hill

The motte at Pleshey was built around 1100. It's about 15 meters (or 50 feet) high. This makes it one of the biggest castle mounds in England. The original earthworks have stayed in great condition. This is because the castle was never rebuilt with stone walls.

The Castle's Story Through Time

In 1158, Pleshey Castle was taken apart. This happened when King Henry II gave the land back to a man named Geoffrey III. But just nine years later, in 1167, William II de Mandeville rebuilt it. He followed the same design but made the wall around the south bailey much bigger.

A Castle in Conflict

During a civil war, after King John refused to follow the Magna Carta, Pleshey Castle was captured. The king's army took it on Christmas Eve in 1215. Then, rebel barons took it back in the winter of 1216-1217. Both times, the castle gave up without a big fight. It wasn't strong enough for major attacks. So, in 1227-1228, it became the main home for the de Bohun family.

What Archaeologists Found Inside

The large motte at Pleshey Castle

Archaeologists have dug up many interesting things at Pleshey Castle. They found:

• A chapel (a small church) at the west end of the south bailey.
• The great hall, which was a large room for gatherings. Next to it were the kitchen, pantry, and buttery.
• Storage buildings around a kitchen yard.
• Big private rooms, possibly for important meetings, above other storage rooms. These rooms were added between 1421 and 1483. At this time, the castle became part of the Duchy of Lancaster's land.
• A stone gatehouse at the south end of the bridge. The room above this gatehouse was called the Queen's chamber. Duchess Eleanor de Bohun of Gloucester used to live there.

These buildings were finished in the late 1300s. They were built by the de Bohun family and Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester.

The castle also had a great hall in its main tower, called the keep. Other rooms likely had their own fireplaces and toilets. The rooms next to the great hall were probably for the lord and lady of the castle.

Later Changes and Decline

By the mid-1400s, the great hall was called the "stranger's hall." This suggests it might have become a guest house. It seems the castle had other halls by then, both in the keep and the south bailey.

The last big update to the keep happened in 1458-1459. This was ordered by Margaret of Anjou. The keep was called a "tower" then. It was mostly built from the wood of many oak trees. It was finished with flint stone and later with bricks. The brick bridge over the moat, which you can still see today, was built between 1477 and 1480.

By the mid-1500s, Pleshey Castle was falling apart. The motte was even used as a place for rabbits to live! The bridge is still there because people checking the land for the Duchy of Lancaster said it was useful for getting to the rabbit warren.

Queen Elizabeth I sold the castle in 1559. Most of its stone was taken apart in 1629 to be used for other buildings. This is why today, only the motte and other earthworks remain.