Donnington Castle is a ruined medieval castle, situated in the small village of Donnington, just north of the town of Newbury in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Sir Richard Abberbury the Elder in 1386 and was bought by Thomas Chaucer before the castle was taken under royal control during the Tudor period. During the First English Civil War the castle was held by the royalist Sir John Boys and withstood an 18-month siege; after the garrison eventually surrendered, Parliament voted to demolish Donnington Castle in 1646. Only the gatehouse survives. The site is a scheduled monument under the care of English Heritage.

History

thumb|left|upright|The twin-towered gatehouse

The manor of Donnington had been owned by the Abberbury family since 1292,

Donnington Castle was built by its original owner, Sir Richard Abberbury the Elder, under a licence granted by Richard II in 1386. The surviving castle gatehouse dates from this time. In 1398, the castle was sold to Thomas Chaucer, son of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer, as a residence for his daughter Alice, who later became Duchess of Suffolk.

The Duke of Suffolk William De La Pole made Donnington his occasional residence, and considerably enlarged the buildings.

This family later fell out with the Tudor monarchs, and the castle became a royal property. King Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Queen Elizabeth I visited Donnington Castle, in 1539, 1552, and 1568 respectively.

In 1590 Elizabeth I granted keepership to Elizabeth Cooke (Lady Russell), the first woman to hold such a title in England.

In 1600, Elizabeth I gave the castle and surrounding manor to Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham. By the time the English Civil War broke out in 1643, the castle was owned by the Parliamentarian John Packer family but after the First Battle of Newbury it was taken for the King, Charles I, and held by Sir John Boys. They quickly enhanced the castle's defences by adding earthworks in a star shape to provide gun emplacements. Measured from the inner sides of the curtain walls, the courtyard measured north to south and east to west.

Donnington Castle appears in the "Little Girl Lost" episode of The Saint, first broadcast on 2 December 1966.

The castle appeared in the Children's Film Foundation feature A Hitch in Time (1978), starring Patrick Troughton.

The twin-towered gatehouse is depicted on the cover of the Tenpole Tudor compilation album The Best of Tenpole Tudor: Swords of a Thousand Men (2001).

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File:Donnington castle by BYRNE, WILLIAM - GMII.jpg|Print by William Byrne, 1778

Image:Donnington - Castle - geograph.org.uk - 827070.jpg|Waste disposal

File:Donnington Castle, Newbury, Plan view.jpg|Aerial plan view photo of Donnington Castle, 2020

File:Plan of the last Skirmish at Donnington Castle.jpg|Plan of the last Skirmish at Donnington Castle during the First English Civil War

File:Donnington castle.jpg|Distant view of the castle, 2017

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See also

  • Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
  • List of castles in England

References

  • Donnington Castle - Newbury History
  • English Heritage page on Donnington Castle
  • Investigation History