Stogursey Castle

Stogursey Castle stands in the village of Stogursey in Somerset as a medieval ruin. The site includes a thatched gatehouse, now used for holiday rentals by the Landmark Trust. The castle was built by the De Courcys in the late 11th or early 12th century as a motte-and-bailey design. It had a 60-metre-wide motte, two baileys and a water-filled moat fed from Stogursey Brook. The name Stogursey comes from the original Stoke Courcy. The castle played a role in the First Barons’ War under King John, who ordered its destruction in 1215. Falkes de Bréauté took control after John’s order, and a second destruction order in 1228 was again ignored. The Fitzpayne family rebuilt it in stone around 1300. Later, during the Wars of the Roses, the Yorkists destroyed the castle in the 1450s, though evidence for this is lacking. A house was built inside the grounds in the 17th century and restored in the 1870s before falling into ruin. Today the castle is a scheduled monument, and its gatehouse is Grade II* listed. The Landmark Trust restored the gatehouse between 1981 and 1982 for holiday use. Visitors see the remains of the motte, baileys and moat, with the thatched gatehouse as a surviving feature. The site offers a quiet view of the surrounding Somerset countryside. The restored gatehouse provides a glimpse of how the castle once functioned.