Stokesay Castle, Shropshire: The Chronology of its Buildings

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About four-fifths of England's estimated fifteen hundred castles were founded before a.d. 1200. Stokesay, though known as a castle, is in fact among the earliest manor houses; fortified, but demonstrating in its arrangements the growing demand for domestic comfort and convenience as the central and southern parts of the country became more securely settled. Very few thirteenth century houses survive, and most are represented only by fragmentary remains. Stokesay is particularly important in that it is still virtually entire, relatively uncluttered by later accretions that mask or partly obliterate so many of the others: it ceased to be occupied in the eighteenth century. Then, too, it represents a marriage between the first-floor and ground-floor types of “hall” dwelling, previously distinct, and thus stands as an early, transitional, instance of the “typical” mediaeval manor plan. A battlemented courtyard wall and a three-story tower of military aspect linked to the south end of the domestic block lent prestige rather than effective defense. The roof of the hall proper is remarkable in retaining very many of the original thirteenth century main timbers, and in embodying pairs of massive “crucks”—each pair describing a pointed arch—the oldest known instance of their use in a domestic building. The crucks were curtailed in the course of a thorough and skillful repair in the mid-nineteenth century, which, although it saved the building from ruin, occasioned revisions of the roof structure which have led to latter-day misconceptions as to the original scheme. Stokesay Castle is so vital in relation to the history of the English house as to demand the closest possible chronological analysis.