The Chateau des Marais is a protected chateau in Saint Sampson, Guernsey. [1] The colloquial name is Ivy Castle. A moated medieval castle dating from before the 12th-century . [2]
The Chateau des Marais is a protected chateau in Saint Sampson, Guernsey. [1] The colloquial name is Ivy Castle. A moated medieval castle dating from before the 12th-century . [2]
Neolithic settlers from 3,500 to 1,500 BC made use of the mound, [3] evidenced with archaeological finds.
In 1170 a fortified structure existed on the site. Mentioned again in 1244 and 1292 it was already considered old .
In the 13th century it was converted into a Motte-and-bailey castle the top of the mound was flattened, the ditch or moat dug out with the excavated soil being used to level and raise the inner and outer defences. [3] An outer wall was built in the marsh, which was drained to make the centre of the fort dry, into Belle Grave Bay by cutting through the shingle bank. [4] : 120
It is believed a chapel was built, however no evidence of its location has been found. Documentary evidence as late as 1330 refers to the chaplain at the castle. [5]
The fort fell into disuse after it was superseded by Castle Cornet which was built in the mid 13th-century. [2] It may have changed use to become a refuge for people and animals. [5]
In the early 17th century a folk memory still existed of the function of the castle. Royal commissioners described it as 'a very ruinous and decayed castle belonging to His Majesty, ‘’of long ago used for the Mansion or seat of the Captains and Governors of this isle’’. [5]
In 1726 a first hand account is available of how the castle has been left to fall to ruin. Botanist Thomas Knowlton was visiting the island to research the cultivation of the Guernsey Lily and while here went to the site and described it as formerly a strong place, but now is nothing but a heap of ruins and walls covered with ivy, which I suppose gives it its name. [3]
Refortified in the Napoleonic era. [2] The stone fort that we see on the site today was constructed, the ditch was re-cut, musket firing steps were built around the outer bailey, the inner bailey was walled in and a powder magazine was built as well as other buildings, probably including a barracks. [3]
After the war, falling back into disrepair, it became the Governor's garden and the home to several pigsties. [3] A distillery was also located in the castle, producing alcohol from potatoes for export from Guernsey, established in 1827 it burnt down in 1832. [6] : 98
During the German occupation of the island, the fort was used as a defence area and a command bunker was constructed inside the walls. Machine gun posts and communication trenches were also built.
Ownership of the land changed from the War Department and Her Majesty’s Commissioners of Crown Lands to the ownership of the States of Guernsey.
An irregular motte, built on a small rocky hillock, surrounded by water meadows that would originally have been a wide marsh called Marais d’Orgueil. Surrounded by a moat the castle has a weak and crudely built external stone wall with an inner and outer bailey built in the 13th century. [5]
The re-fortification in the 18th-century saw walls built in the format we see today.
During the 1970s excavations uncovered early jewellery, pottery and flints showing that the area was settled in at least the late Neolithic period if not earlier . [3] Neolithic standing stones are in the area.
There is a lack of evidence from the Iron Age period.
The 13th-century evidence shows the undergrowth was burnt to clear the site, builders marked out the site with standing stones, turf was cut and made the embankment which was topped with clay and granite. [5]
The Chateau des Marais is open to the public, accessible via footpaths from Ivy Castle Lane or Victoria Avenue. Parking is available off Sir John Leale Avenue, off Victoria Avenue.
The whole of the Chateau de Marais was listed as a Protected Monument on 26 March 1938, reference PM90. [7]
Medieval fortification refers to medieval military methods that cover the development of fortification construction and use in Europe, roughly from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the Renaissance. During this millennium, fortifications changed warfare, and in turn were modified to suit new tactics, weapons and siege techniques.
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars usually consider a castle to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a mansion, palace and villa, whose main purpose was exclusively for pleasance and are not primarily fortresses but may be fortified. Use of the term has varied over time and, sometimes, has also been applied to structures such as hill forts and 19th- and 20th-century homes built to resemble castles. Over the Middle Ages, when genuine castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls, arrowslits, and portcullises, were commonplace.
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices. In older fortifications, such as hillforts, they are usually referred to simply as ditches, although the function is similar. In later periods, moats or water defences may be largely ornamental. They could also act as a sewer.
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to build with unskilled labour, but still militarily formidable, these castles were built across northern Europe from the 10th century onwards, spreading from Normandy and Anjou in France, into the Holy Roman Empire, as well as the Low Countries it controlled, in the 11th century, when these castles were popularized in the area that became the Netherlands. The Normans introduced the design into England and Wales. Motte-and-bailey castles were adopted in Scotland, Ireland, and Denmark in the 12th and 13th centuries. By the end of the 13th century, the design was largely superseded by alternative forms of fortification, but the earthworks remain a prominent feature in many countries.
Urquhart Castle is a ruined castle that sits beside Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland. The castle is on the A82 road, 21 kilometres (13 mi) south-west of Inverness and 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of the village of Drumnadrochit.
Oxford Castle is a large, partly ruined medieval castle on the western side of central Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Most of the original moated, wooden motte and bailey castle was replaced in stone in the late 12th or early 13th century and the castle played an important role in the conflict of the Anarchy. In the 14th century the military value of the castle diminished and the site became used primarily for county administration and as a prison. The surviving rectangular St George's Tower is now believed to pre-date the remainder of the castle and be a watch tower associated with the original Saxon west gate of the city.
Pickering Castle is a motte-and-bailey fortification in Pickering, North Yorkshire, England.
Pevensey Castle is a medieval castle and former Roman Saxon Shore fort at Pevensey in the English county of East Sussex. The site is a scheduled monument in the care of English Heritage and is open to visitors. Built around 290 AD and known to the Romans as Anderitum, the fort appears to have been the base for a fleet called the Classis Anderidaensis. The reasons for its construction are unclear; long thought to have been part of a Roman defensive system to guard the British and Gallic coasts against Saxon pirates, it has more recently been suggested that Anderitum and the other Saxon Shore forts were built by a usurper in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to prevent Rome from reimposing its control over Britain.
Scarborough Castle is a former medieval royal fortress situated on a rocky promontory overlooking the North Sea and Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. The site of the castle, encompassing the Iron Age settlement, Roman signal station, an Anglo-Scandinavian settlement and chapel, the 12th-century enclosure castle and 18th-century battery, is a scheduled monument of national importance.
Aslockton Castle is a ruined fortification, a motte-and-bailey castle, in the village of Aslockton, Nottinghamshire. The original name of the settlement was Aslachetone, which suggests a possible Norse origin; it was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 where it was described as a large settlement.
In archaeology, earthworks are artificial changes in land level, typically made from piles of artificially placed or sculpted rocks and soil. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features, or they can show features beneath the surface.
Thetford Castle is a medieval motte and bailey castle in the market town of Thetford in the Breckland area of Norfolk, England. The first castle in Thetford, a probable 11th-century Norman ringwork called Red Castle, was replaced in the 12th century by a much larger motte and bailey castle on the other side of the town. This new castle was largely destroyed in 1173 by Henry II, although the huge motte, the second largest man-made mound in England, remained intact. The motte, recognised as a scheduled monument, now forms part of a local park, and the remains are known variously as Castle Hill, Castle Mound and Military Parade.
Kirkmaiden is a parish in the Rhins of Galloway, the most southerly in Scotland; the present Church of Scotland parish has the same name as and is approximately coterminous with the original pre-Reformation parish.
While there are many castles in South Yorkshire, the majority are manor houses and motte-and-bailey which were commonly found in England after the Norman Conquest.
Blankenhagen Castle was a lowland castle (Niederungsburg), whose ruins are located by the River Aller near Grethem in Lower Saxony, Germany. The motte-and-bailey castle is believed to have been built around 1200. It is supposed that there used to be fortified buildings on the two low mounds or mottes, and that a bailey was constructed on an outer island-like area.
A bailey or ward in a fortification is a leveled courtyard, typically enclosed by a curtain wall. In particular, an early type of European castle was known as a motte-and-bailey. Castles and fortifications may have more than one bailey, and the enclosure wall building material may have been at first in wood, and later transitioned to stone. Their layout depends both on the local topography and the level of fortification technology employed, ranging from simple enclosures to elaborate concentric defences. In addition to the gradual evolution of more complex fortification plans, there are also significant differences in regional traditions of military architecture regarding subdivisions into baileys.
The Peel of Lumphanan, also known as the Peel Ring or Peel Bog of Lumphanan, is a defensive structure dating back to the 13th century. It is located near Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland.
A Zwinger is an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. Zwingers were built in the post-classical and early modern periods to improve the defence of castles and town walls. The term is usually left untranslated, but is sometimes rendered as "outer courtyard", presumably referring to the subsequent role of a Zwinger as a castle's defences became redundant and it was converted into a palace or schloss; however, this belies its original purpose as a form of killing ground for the defence. The word is linked with zwingen, "to force", perhaps because the Zwinger forced an enemy to negotiate it before assaulting the main defensive line. Essenwein states that the "main purpose of this feature was so that the besieging force could not reach the actual castle wall very easily with battering rams or belfries, but had to stop at the lower, outer wall; also that two ranks of archers, behind and above one another, could fire upon the approaching enemy".
The island of Guernsey has been fortified for several thousand years, the number of defence locations and complexity of the defence increasing with time, manpower and the improvements in weapons and tactics.
Archaeology is promoted in Jersey by the Société Jersiaise and by Jersey Heritage. Promotion in the Bailiwick of Guernsey being undertaken by La Société Guernesiaise, Guernsey Museums, the Alderney Society with World War II work also undertaken by Festung Guernsey.
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