View source for Rockingham Castle

{{Short description|Grade I listed historic house museum in Rockingham, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name=Rockingham Castle
|partof=[[Northamptonshire]]
|location=[[Corby]], England
|coordinates=
|image=Rockingham Castle entrance.jpg
|image_size=300px
|caption=The main gateway at Rockingham Castle
|type=Enclosure castle
|code=
|built= 11th Century
|builder=
|materials= [[Limestone]] <br /> [[Sandstone]]
|height= {{convert|10|m}}
|used= Private
|condition= Renovated
|ownership= Saunders Watson family
|controlledby= 
|garrison=
|commanders=
|occupants=
|battles=
|events= [[English Civil War]]
}}

'''Rockingham Castle''' is a former royal [[castle]] and [[Hunting and shooting in the United Kingdom#Hunting lodge|hunting lodge]] in [[Rockingham Forest]],<ref name=OSCASTLE>{{cite book|title=Guide to Castles in Britain|last1=Furtado|first1=Peter|last2=Geddes|first2=Candida|last3=Harris|first3=Nathaniel|last4=Harrison|first4=Hazel|last5=Pettit|first5=Paul|publisher=Hamlyn – Ordnance Survey|date=1987|isbn=9780600558699|page=138|work=Details and description of Rockingham Castle}}</ref> approximately two miles from the town centre of [[Corby]], [[Northamptonshire]], England.

==History==
===11th – 14th centuries===
The site on which the castle stands was used in the [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]], in the [[Roman Britain|Roman period]], by the [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|Saxons]], Normans, Tudors and also in the medieval period. This is because its position on elevated ground provides clear views of the [[River Welland|Welland Valley]] from a strong defensible location.

[[William the Conqueror]] ordered the construction of a wooden [[Motte and Bailey]] at Rockingham in the 11th century shortly after the [[Norman conquest of England]]. Within three decades, [[William II of England|William II]] replaced it with a stone castle. A [[shell keep|stone keep]] was added to the large motte and the outer bailey was enclosed by a [[Curtain wall (fortification)|curtain wall]]. The castle was then used as a royal retreat throughout the [[Norman dynasty|Norman]] and [[House of Plantagenet|Plantagenet periods]]. Nearby Rockingham Forest was especially good for hunting [[wild boar]] and [[deer]].

A church/state council was held at the castle in 1095 to address the issue of episcopal appointments. It was attended by [[William II of England|William II]] and [[Anselm of Canterbury|Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury]], but failed to reach a resolution.<ref>J. Derek Holmes, Bernard W. Bickers, ''A Short History of the Catholic Church'', Burns & Oates, UK, 2002, p. 72</ref><ref>Rockingham Castle, [https://www.rockinghamcastle.com/history/ History: About Rockingham], accessed 23 September 2023</ref>

In 1270 [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] strengthened the castle with the addition of a twin D-tower gatehouse. But less than a century later [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] became the last monarch to visit the castle while it was possessed by the [[The Crown|Crown]].

===15th – 21st centuries===
[[File:Rockingham Castle Barbican, Archaeological Journal (1845) v1 page 380.jpg|thumb|left|A plan of the gatehouse]]
By the late 15th century Rockingham Castle had fallen into disrepair. Sir Edward Watson,<ref name=OSCASTLE /> founder of the [[Marquess of Rockingham|Watson dynasty]], acquired the lease of the castle from [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]. Parts of the castle were later replaced with a Tudor house with gardens. The former royal castle became a hunting lodge for the nobility.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rockinghamcastle.com/index.php?view=62|title= Rockingham Castle Tudors|publisher=Rockingham Castle |accessdate=27 January 2011}}</ref> Watson's grandson [[Lewis Watson, 1st Baron Rockingham|Lewis Watson]] acquired the freehold of the castle and lands from the Crown. Watson was successively a knight, baronet and [[Baron Rockingham|baron]].<ref name=Cockayne>[https://archive.org/stream/cu31924092524374#page/n187/mode/2up George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Vol. 1'' 1900]</ref>

In the 1640s, during the [[English Civil War]], Rockingham was garrisoned by royalist troops. They fought several small skirmishes with [[Roundheads|Parliamentary forces]]. In 1643 Rockingham was captured by Parliamentarian general [[Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford]] and Lewis Watson was temporarily forced to leave. Its remaining walls were [[Slighting|slighted]] in 1646. In the latter 17th and 18th centuries, Rockingham returned to being a civil residence.

Lewis' grandson, also [[Lewis Watson, 1st Earl of Rockingham|Lewis]], already Baron Rockingham, was created Earl of Rockingham and Viscount Sondes in 1714. He had inherited [[Lees Court]], in 1709 on the death without issue of his brother in law [[Louis de Duras, 2nd Earl of Feversham|Louis De Duras 2nd Earl of Ferversham]], The earldom was extinguished with the death of the 5th baron (3rd earl) in 1746. While the Barony of Rockingham passed to another cousin, [[Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Marquess of Rockingham|Thomas Watson-Wentworth]], who was created Marquess of Rockingham later that year, The Rockingham estate along with [[Lees Court]], Sheldwich then passed to his cousin Lewis Monson, who changed his name to Watson and later became in 1760 [[Earl Sondes|Baron Sondes of Lees Court]]. Lees Court was a modern house having been rebuilt in the mid 16th Century by [[George Sondes, 1st Earl of Feversham|George Sondes 1st Earl of Feversham]] and it became the principal family seat, meaning that Rockingham Castle remained unaltered during this period. Both estates descended via the 2nd and 3rd Barons Sondes, until the later's death. He was  Lewis Richard Watson who died unmarried in 1836. At this point the estates of Rockingham Castle and Lees Court diverged, Lees Court remained with the Baron Sondes line and passed to Lewis Richard's brother [[George John Watson 4th Baron Sondes]], However, from the 3rd Baron Sondes, Rockingham Castle passed firstly to his younger brother The Rev. Henry Watson and then another brother Richard Watson. The castle was inherited by successively by the sons of Richard Watson, George Lewis Watson (d.1899) and Rev Wentworth Watson, on whose death in 1925 the estate passed to his great nephew Sir Michael [[Culme-Seymour baronets|Culme-Seymour]], 5th Baronet in 1925. He lived here with his wife, [[Lady Mary Faith Montagu]], a daughter of the [[George Montagu, 9th Earl of Sandwich|9th Earl of Sandwich]], until 1967, when he transferred it to his nephew, Commander Michael Saunders Watson CBE, chairman of the [[British Library]].<ref name="americanviscountess">{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2OZWAAL0D0|title=Royal Castle Turned Intimate Family Home - Rockingham Castle Ep 1|via=www.youtube.com}}</ref>

Today the mainstay of the castle is the home of the Saunders-Watson family led by James Saunders Watson, the son of Michael Saunders, who achieved £4,000,000 in revenue from its events and rentals in 2017.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/uk/great-estates-castle-inspiration-bleak-house-holds-race-called/|title=Great Estates: the castle that was the inspiration for Bleak House which holds a race called 'the Suffering'|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=21 May 2017|author=Eleanor Doughty}}</ref> He served as [[High Sheriff of Northamptonshire]] for 2018/19.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highsheriffnorthamptonshire.com/home.htm|title=High Sheriff of Northamptonshire}}</ref> He was appointed Lord-lieutenant of Northamptonshire in 2020 and currently holds the title.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lord-lieutenantnorthamptonshire.co.uk/general-info/|title=Lord-Lieutenant of Northamptonshire}}</ref>

== Description ==
The castle has a strong [[gatehouse]], which is to be expected for castles of its time. There are two large semicircular towers, protruding from the castle wall, located on either side of the gate. These are also known as D-towers. This gatehouse is on the east side of the structure, facing almost entirely towards the field. The plan of the castle is a typical rectangular shape, with a passage through the center of the structure. This passage is entered through a porch beneath a drop arch, and was guarded by a portcullis in front of a wooden door. Another door is located at the end of the passage. Along the sides of the passage are openings, leading to rectangular chambers. In the east walls of these were the doorways two the semicircular chambers of the towers. The gatehouse and its towers have only two floors. This design is reminiscent of the rectangular stone gatehouse of the early [[Normans|Norman]] castle.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=A. Hamilton |title=Military Architecture in England During the Middle Ages |date=1912 |isbn=9781536171563 |pages=227}}</ref> The remainder of the castle is contained by stone walls. Within this castle are many halls, units of housing, and other buildings.

==Location==
[[File:Street inside Rockingham Castle - geograph.org.uk - 31554.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Inside Rockingham Castle]]
The parish borders directly onto the town of [[Corby, Northamptonshire|Corby]]. Rockingham (and Corby) are part of [[North Northamptonshire]], part of the ceremonial county of [[Northamptonshire]].

The castle overlooks the villages of [[Rockingham, Northamptonshire|Rockingham]] and [[Caldecott, Rutland|Caldecott]], and has views over the [[River Welland|Welland Valley]]. Privately owned, it is open to the public for events and on certain days.

The place was visited by writer [[Charles Dickens]], who was a friend of Richard and Lavinia Watson, ancestors of the current family. The castle is arguably the inspiration for Chesney Wold in Dickens' novel ''[[Bleak House]]'', published in 1853.{{By whom|date=December 2021}}

The castle takes its name from the [[Manorialism|manor]] of Rockingham, which was the only manor of the parish which in turn had markedly few churchlands,{{clarify|date=January 2022}} especially as is common{{clarify|date=January 2022}} after the [[dissolution of the monasteries]]. [[Rockingham Forest]] was, largely outside of the parish, named after the place during the time of William the Conqueror because of the castle's importance as a royal retreat.

A [[cricket pitch]] lies within the grounds and is home to Old Eastonians Cricket Club.

==Filming==
Rockingham Castle was used as a principal setting for the [[BBC]] [[English Civil War]] [[period drama]] ''[[By the Sword Divided]]''. In the TV series, "Arnescote Castle" was the home of the Royalist Lacey family. The castle also featured in the film ''[[Top Secret!]]'', which starred [[Val Kilmer]].

==See also==
*[[Castles in Great Britain and Ireland]]
*[[List of castles in England]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite wikisource | last1=Hartshorne | first1=Charles Henry | title=Rockingham Castle | wslink=Archaeological Journal/Volume 1/Rockingham Castle | work=Archaeological Journal | volume=1 | year=1845 | doi=10.1080/00665983.1844.10850537 | pages=356–378 | firsticon=yes | noicon=yes }}

==External links==
{{commons category|Rockingham Castle}}
*[http://www.rockinghamcastle.com/ Official website]
*[https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=4101074 Photos of Rockingham Castle and surrounding area on geograph]
*{{oscoor gbx|SP866912}}

{{coord|52.5129|N|0.724|W|region:GB_type:landmark_scale:10000|display=title}}

[[Category:Castles in Northamptonshire]]
[[Category:Country houses in Northamptonshire]]
[[Category:Historic house museums in Northamptonshire]]
[[Category:Gardens in Northamptonshire]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Northamptonshire]]