- Huntingdon Castle
Huntingdon Castle was situated the town of
Huntingdon inCambridgeshire (gbmapping|TL240714).The site was originally used by the
Saxons . In1068 a Normanmotte and bailey castle was built forWilliam the Conqueror . Duringthe Anarchy the castle was held by David, King of Scotland through his marriage toMaud, 2nd Countess of Huntingdon . He supportedEmpress Matilda and the castle was much damaged at this time. However when the succession was settled, David's son Henry paid homage to King Stephen who in turn also gave him the borough of Huntingdon in addition to the castle.By
1173 the castle was still held by the kings of Scotland, at that time by William the Lion. He had sided with Henry, the rebel son of Henry II, during theRevolt of 1173-1174 , and the castle was besieged byRichard de Luci . The siege was taken over by Simon de St. Lis but it did not end until Henry II (who had just performedpenance at the tomb ofThomas Becket ) arrived at Huntingdon. The siege ended the following day and Henry then ordered that the castle be dismantled.Parts of the castle did remain, including the chapel, and its ownership passed through a number of hands. The castle was refortified during the Civil War. For a time it served as the county goal and later a windmill stood on the castle mound. Nothing now remains of the castle itself although the site is a
scheduled ancient monument .References
* [http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/English%20sites/158.html Huntingdon Castle 1]
* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=42469#s3 Huntingdon Castle 2]
*Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, "The David & Charles Book of Castles", David & Charles, 1980. ISBN 0-7153-7976-3
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