I’m quoting some text from an earlier post:
“Here we have the remains of Hopton Castle, an enigmatic ruin in the Shropshire borderland, eleven miles northwest of of Ludlow. It is called a castle, but it might be better described as an upscale medieval tower-house. That it survives at all, in this accessible state, is down to the creative efforts of the Hopton Castle Preservation Trust whose members toiled for 11 years to raise funds to consolidate the main structure, and then spent a further five years overseeing the work.
The ruin is full of puzzles. The preservation work revealed hints of 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th century construction, but with no clear evidence for the date of the main surviving structure. It’s been suggested that the Hopton family, who owned it between the 11th and 15th centuries, at some stage deliberately set out to create a faux antique country residence much as the Victorians did with their mock Tudor ‘cottages’. In other words, the Hoptons went in for some creative intervention of their own.
One theory is that it was a hunting lodge. The interior work of all three floors appears to have been very grand, and definitely of ‘lordly’ quality.
Restored entrance
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Also, the tower was clearly not intended as a defensive structure. As you can see from the first photo, any besieger could simply walk up to the front door. Yet the building it replaced, the first ‘castle’ on the mound was indeed a functioning fortification – a motte and bailey castle typical of the Normans’ early conquest of Britain after 1066. Made of timber, they could be constructed swiftly, and as the need arose, later re-built and expanded into domineering stone fortresses.
But this did not happen at Hopton. The stone walls that replaced the 11th century motte and bailey appear to have been built of poor quality stone, unsuited to withstanding a siege. Meanwhile, the interior fittings and design suggest considerable expense.
So it’s a pretend castle then?”
You can read more about this (pictorial reconstruction included) at my earlier post: Creative Intervention Rescues A Ruin
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This week at Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness the guest host is Sarah from Travel With Me. Sarah’s theme is RUINS.
This is so interesting and rich in history Tish!
Glad you found this interesting, Anne.
😍
what a fabulous ruin, with so much history!
It’s certainly an extraordinary survivor, sitting there on the edge of very tiny settlement.
And one I would’ve loved to have come across, but in the 1980s it was nowhere near being restored!
Lends itself so well to monochrome, Tish xx
I like it in monochrome too. It was a rather monochrome day when we visited. It would be interesting to see it in winter sunshine.
Blue skies would be wasted, Tish? xx
It does look great in monochrome, Tish. I especially like the last image.
Thanks, Janet.
I love a ruin with the known history as well. I like the way you’ve edited the featured image.
Thanks, Alison. It was fun playing with that image 🙂
I would have loved to see it as a hunting lodge. Great photo and history, Tish.
Hunting lodges always sound so romantic, don’t they.
Maybe except for the hunting. 😊
🙂
enjoyed learning about Hopton Castle
Cheers, Yvette.
🙂 xxxx
Amazing that it was able to be saved. What a marvellous model for photography, even better in monochrome
I like the monochrome versions best too.
A dramatic ruin in monochrome and an interesting history to go alongside it – thank you for this great contribution to the challenge, Trish 🙂
Thanks for the challenge, Sarah.
Probably still has its fair share of ghosties though. 🙂
A spot of conjuring needed. These days it seems such a remote spot, but perhaps not so much in the past. Now you have me wondering whose spirit still lingers there…
So ripe for monochrome. Sucker for the detail in those cracks and crannies, best with background clouds.
Those cracks and crannies – residue of so many ‘pasts’.