Happy Weekend, Escapists, and welcome to Sponsored Saturdays! Luxury historical properties, castles, crumbling chateaux – on Sponsored Saturdays I have an excuse to feature the best of these for your viewing pleasure!
Today please enjoy a tour of the spectacular Grade I-listed Devizes Castle, located in Wiltshire, England.
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This castle is a stunner! It contains ten bedrooms, five bathrooms, and many living areas. It contains a wonderful mix of old architectural details mixed with the convenience of a modern lifestyle, retaining much character and charm. It is surrounded by beautiful gardens.
The castle has a rich history. The castle dates back to 1080 and has been destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout the millenium since. The most recent structure dates to 1830, after being burnt down once in 1113 and destroyed in the Civil War in the 17th Century.
The royal history is quite amazing, from the Wikipedia entry on Devizes Castle:
The first motte-and-bailey castle on this site was built in 1080 by Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. It became known by its Latin name Castrum ad divisas, the castle at the boundaries, because it was located at a place where three parishes joined. That later evolved into the word Devices.[3][4] The town grew around the castle.[5]
The original structure burned down in 1113 and was rebuilt in stone by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, by 1120. In that era, it was said (by an unknown source) that it was the most beautiful fortress in Europe.[6] He occupied it under Henry I and the castle was claimed by Stephen, King of England in the 1130s; Empress Matilda once took it but returned the castle to King Stephen when he threatened to kill her son. Matilda later reclaimed it and held the castle for some time.[7] The property was owned by the Crown until the 17th Century. It was used as a prison by Henry II and Henry III. It went on to become the property of Henry VIII who gifted it to his wife Catherine of Aragon and then reclaimed it after their divorce.[8]
Important prisoners were held at the castle, including (from 1106) Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror, and (in 1232) Hubert de Burgh. Also, in 1206, John, King of England held his second wife Isabella here as a prisoner.[9]
The interior of the castle is just as stunning as the exterior. From the listing on Savills:
Devizes Castle is an exceptional example of a Grade I listed property, predominantly built of attractive stone with alluring castellations and turrets. There are an array of period features throughout the Castle: generous stone mullioned windows, beautifully detailed stone archways, impressive fireplaces, oak floor boards, working shutters, high ceilings throughout, an unusual bowed Fernery with elegant wooden ceiling, a wide wooden central staircase, charming smaller stone spiral staircases and, in the Drawing Room and Study, ceilings richly decorated with carved and gilded bosses.
For more information please see the listing on Savills!
Escapist To The Country 