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Codnor Castle – background
Codnor Castle (Cotenoure in Domesday) was the seat of the Lords Grey from about 1200 until the late 15th century. It may have begun its life as a Norman earthwork motte-and-bailey fortress, becoming a stone castle possibly in the 13th century. Today all that is left is an imposing, if ruinous, three-storey chamber block, with fragments of lodgings built against a curtain wall, flanked by rectangular turrets. There is an upper and a lower court divided by a curtain wall, with a twin-towered gatehouse and round angle towers. In the lower court, is a length of high curtain wall with a projecting garderobe turret and a 17th-century farmhouse built with stone from the castle.
Henry, the first Lord Grey, acquired Codnor by his marriage to Isolde. Their great grandson Henry became first Baron Grey of Codnor. Over the centuries the family served the various kings of England with distinction, fighting at Crecy and Agincourt. The last Baron Grey fought in the Wars of the Roses – first for the Lancastrians before switching sides to the Yorkists. He was involved in a murderous dispute with his local rivals, the Vernons, and dabbled in alchemy. On his death in 1496, Codnor passed to Sir John Zouche, a relative by marriage. When the Zouches ran into financial trouble they sold Codnor Castle in 1634.
The exact extent and layout of the castle has never been known. Eighteenth-century sketches hint at an impressive if ruined complex of buildings. It must have been sizeable because kings and their retinues visited Codnor twice.
Consolidation and restoration of the castle by UK Coal is now in progress. There has been coal mining in Codnor since at least 1430 but in the 1840s the castle grounds were explored for coal by the Butterley Company.
Amateur diggers found some remains in the lower court in the early 20th century and the 1960s. But how much of this once grand baronial castle still survives? As usual, Time Team had just three days to find out.
Codnor Castle (Cotenoure in Domesday) was the seat of the Lords Grey from about 1200 until the late 15th century. It may have begun its life as a Norman earthwork motte-and-bailey fortress, becoming a stone castle possibly in the 13th century. Today all that is left is an imposing, if ruinous, three-storey chamber block, with fragments of lodgings built against a curtain wall, flanked by rectangular turrets. There is an upper and a lower court divided by a curtain wall, with a twin-towered gatehouse and round angle towers. In the lower court, is a length of high curtain wall with a projecting garderobe turret and a 17th-century farmhouse built with stone from the castle.
Henry, the first Lord Grey, acquired Codnor by his marriage to Isolde. Their great grandson Henry became first Baron Grey of Codnor. Over the centuries the family served the various kings of England with distinction, fighting at Crecy and Agincourt. The last Baron Grey fought in the Wars of the Roses – first for the Lancastrians before switching sides to the Yorkists. He was involved in a murderous dispute with his local rivals, the Vernons, and dabbled in alchemy. On his death in 1496, Codnor passed to Sir John Zouche, a relative by marriage. When the Zouches ran into financial trouble they sold Codnor Castle in 1634.
The exact extent and layout of the castle has never been known. Eighteenth-century sketches hint at an impressive if ruined complex of buildings. It must have been sizeable because kings and their retinues visited Codnor twice.
Consolidation and restoration of the castle by UK Coal is now in progress. There has been coal mining in Codnor since at least 1430 but in the 1840s the castle grounds were explored for coal by the Butterley Company.
Amateur diggers found some remains in the lower court in the early 20th century and the 1960s. But how much of this once grand baronial castle still survives? As usual, Time Team had just three days to find out.
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