Looking at the brief history of Astley Castle it was originally a manor house but in 1299 the owner Lord Warin de Bassingburn was given permission to cranelate the manor to build a moat around it and fortify it. This means that the manor house did earn the title of castle. It was a castle fortified for defence purposes. When I saw that first building I got the impression that it was the original gate house of the estate. Who knows? In the really early era just after the Normans took over Britain they built castles (some small and some large) all over the British archipelago. The fact that it was a stone building known as a manor meant that to cranelate it and make it a castle was a step in the right direction for the relatively new Plantagenet line of Royalty. 1299 was only about 230 years after 1066 battle of Hastings. This building also earns the title of castle because it was home to three queens. Elizabeth the wife of King Edward IV, Elizabeth of York wife of Henry VII and Lady Jane Gray. I have watched videos explaining the basic design of the early castles. They were not mansions for the elite giving loads of comfort. They were often small crowded buildings which were cold and very uncomfortable. That ruin which you saw next to the moat looks like it extended much further along the moat. Maybe it is a curtain wall. One of the windows you looked at looked narrow enough to either be a gun port or arrow slit. If course over the 700 years the building has been there there would be alterations making it more en vogue as the fashions and needs changed for the residents. I am pretty sure that those large windows were a much later addition. They look like they come from the Tudor period. And those moldingsxaround the windows would probably have had a family Crest on the upper centre gap. Astley had a Lord of the manor prior to 1066 who was Ernsi son of Aldgyth. I am not sure but I wonder if he could have been Anglo-Saxon. The manor was taken away from him and given by William the Conqueror to a Norman by the name of Ralph of Tosny in 1086. The domesday book shows that it was a very well organized and prosperous estate before and after the Norman take over. The castle/manor house may have had many alterations over the 900+ years of its existence but written proof shows how old the estate really is. It is ancient.
Very interesting history 🤔 You are probably right about there being a building (possibly more than one actually) before the current structure was built. In most cases this is true. Churches are a good example, that its not uncommon for an older church (different belief system) to be demolished and a newer one built over the top of it. Enderby church being a good example. There have been churches of one form or another dating back to the 9th Century there. Very, very interesting. Thank you. I really enjoyed reading your comment and learned something new from it 😊 And yes, I would imagine it was very cold, very uncomfortable to have lived it. Not now though 🤣 Its GORGEOUS inside the place.
@@marcsghostycorner4336 I did find the variety of brickwork and stonework very interesting. I am sure that quite a bit of the stonework could date back to the original building but then there were Tudor bricks and larger bricks all over. That very interesting brickwork in the fireplace is worth investigating. That style was used by the Romans. But of course that could never be that old maybe just simply borrowed. A building of that age is very likely to have some paranormal activity. When your phone started its glitching I was interested to note that maybe thus happened in the same vicinity as the footage taken by the person who claimed to have captured a red lady in their footage. I was a little disappointed that you could not see the church. I think it would have been interesting to see its construction and the tombs of the ancient people who are entered there but thank you for the footage you have posted. I found it more interesting than if it had been of a fully functional castle with its furnishings and decor intact. This castle has a very alluring beauty in its ruinous state. I am glad you kept it short inside because there was not actually much to see in the renovated section. I was very amused with your fly story. Come on. Typhoid and the black death. I had to have a chuckle. Best wishes. Go well.
@@marcsghostycorner4336 I have just found out that Sir Thomas Astley pulled down most of the church in 1338 and he re built it. I find this significant because if you have a look at the brickwork on the outside of the church it matches.much of the brickwork on the outside of the castle. There is a strong possibility that the castle was much smaller prior to this. I have seen videos where it was explained that many of the original Norman castles literally had 1 room downstairs and one upstairs. The upstairs one was where the family had their quarters and they ate and even slept in one room. I have also been able to get drone footage of the estate and I was impressed with how the church actually dwarfs the castle. It was obviously a very important establishment in the area. Very interesting that the church did not suffer badly from the dissolution by Henry VIII.
