In this series:
- Hedingham Castle Fact Sheet with Virtual Tour Link.
- Hedingham Castle 1485-1562 with Virtual Tour Link.
- A brief history of the Earls of Oxford and Castle Hedingham.
CASTLE-HEDINGHAM. The village of Castle-Hedingham, the ancient seat of the Veres, Earls of Oxford, is chiefly remarkable for the castle, from which it derives its name. It occupies an eminence near the village. Of this venerable structure the keep alone, from the massive solidity of its walls, has hitherto defied the encroachments of time. This is in the purest style of the Anglo-Norman architecture, and it is conjectured to have been erected either by the first Aubrey, Earl of Oxford, or by his successor. The former was slain by the rabble, at London, in 1140; the latter died in 1214. The walls, at their base, are between eleven and thirteen feet in thickness, and at their summit between nine and ten feet. The wall upon the east side is nearly a foot thicker than all the others, with a view, it would seem, of enabling it better to withstand the injuries of the weather. The form of the keep is almost square, and it is somewhat about 100 feet in height. It was originally entered by a flight of stairs upon the west side, reaching to the principal door on the first story, about five feet from which is a circular staircase, of which part descends to the ground floor, and part ascends to the upper stories. Every possible attention has been paid to strength and security in the construction of this edifice, the walls being thickest at the bottom, admitting only a scanty portion of light through small loop-holes, the windows increasing, however, progressively in size, as they approached the top of the building, and receded from the danger.
The Hall of Audience, which occupies a great part of the second story, is a grand apartment, well-proportioned, and richly embellished. Here the feudal barons were accustomed to receive the homage of their vassals, and here was displayed all the ostentatious hospitality of the times. The castle was frequently an object of serious contention in the days of King John, and was several times taken and retaken. John, the twelfth earl, having warmly espoused the cause of the Lancasterians, was afterwards beheaded on Tower-hill, by order of Edward IV. The estates were afterwards confiscated, and in 1483 were granted for life to Sir Thomas Montgomery, who, however, did not long enjoy them, as on the accession of Henry VII., the Act of Attainder was repealed, and all the earl’s estates and honours restored.
This nobleman, who appears to have been a wise, magnificent, learned, and religious man, lived in great splendour and hospitality. These qualities seem to have drawn the jealousy and resentment of his master, at a moment more proper to extinguish than to actuate the sordid passions, at the close of a sumptuous and expensive entertainment given by the earl to Henry VII. at this castle. At the king’s going away, the earl’s servants stood in their livery coats and cognizances ranged on both sides, and made a lane. The king called the earl, and said unto him, “ My lord, I have heard much of your hospitality, but I see it is greater the speech: these handsome gentlemen and yeomen, which I see on both sides of me, are sure your menial servants.”
The earl smiled, and answered, “It may please your grace, that were not for mine ease: they are most of them my retainers, that are come to do me service at such a time as this, and chiefly to see your grace.” The king startled a little, said, “ By my faith, my lord, I thank you for your good cheer ; but I may not have my laws broken in my sight. My attorney must speak with you;” and it is said that the earl compounded for no less than 15,000 marks for this offence against the statute of retainers.
Edward, the seventeenth earl, was noted for his profusion, which occasioned him to alienate many of the family estates. His first wife was Anne, eldest daughter of the Lord Chancellor Burleigh, by whom he had three daughters; his second, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Trentham, gent., of Roucester, in Staffordshire, and maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth: by this lady he had one son, named Henry, who succeeded to the earldom. The honour and castle of Hedingham were secured by Lord Burleigh, probably with a view of providing for his three grand-daughters. Previously to this, however, the castle was dilapidated, and most of the buildings razed to the ground, under the earl’s warrant. The parks, which were three in number, and contained several hundred acres, were parted, and let to several tenants in allotments.
Henry, the eighteenth earl, was restored to this estate by agreement with his three half-sisters and their husbands. On his death, without issue, in 1625, it was held in jointure by his countess, Diana, second daughter of William, second earl of Exeter, after whose decease, in 1655, it passed into his mother’s family, who retained it till the year 1713, when it was purchased by Robert Ashurst, Esq., second son of Sir William Ashurst, Knight, lord mayor of London in 1693. The Ashursts were succeeded by Sir Henry Houghton, of Houghton Tower, in Lancashire; but the present possessor is Lewds Majendie, Esq., who inhabits the mansion erected in the beginning of the last century.
The manor of Castle Hedingham was given by William the Conqueror, to Aubrey de Vere; in whose family it continued with little interruption, till the year 1625. It was h olden immediately of the crown, and exclusively of all other lordships. It was created an honour by Henry II. In this village, Aubrey, or Alberic, the first earl of Oxford, and his wife, Lucia, who became the first prioress, founded a Benedictine nunnery, before the year 1190. It was very amply endowed; though at the dissolution its revenues were valued at only £29. 12s. lOd. The nunnery, and part of the chapel belonging to it, are yet standing ; the former has long been converted into a farm-house. An hospital, sometimes called the New Abbey, was also founded here about the year 1250, by Hugh, fourth earl of Oxford, and endowed for two or three chaplains, clerk, servant, and some poor and decrepid people. This building has been long destroyed. Castle-Hedingham Church is an ancient stone fabric, with battlements of brick, supposed, from the ornaments and carvings of the boar and mullet, on different parts of the structure, to have been erected by the De Veres.
The present tower was built about the year 1616. In the midst of the chancel is a superb, but somewhat mutilated monument, covering the remains of John de Vere, sixteenth earl of Oxford, who died on the 19th of March, 1539. This nobleman was great chamberlain of England, chancellor of state to Henry VIII., and knight of the garter. On the tomb are incumbent figures of the earl and his wife, the Lady Elizabeth ; together with the arms and quarterings of the family, encircled by the garter. On the south and north sides are effigies of their children, four sons, and four daughters, kneeling, with a book open before each. An inscription, engraven on brass, which went round the tomb, was torn off in the time of the civil wars. Various banners, gauntlets, and other warlike remains, belonging to the De Veres, are displayed in different parts of the chancel. Here are also monuments of the Ashursts, who possessed this estate in the last century.
Sible-Hedingham lies one mile S.W. from Castle-Hedingham. These two places appear to have been connected till after the Conquest, as they do not occur as distinct parishes till about the commencement of the reign of Henry III. Their situation is very pleasant, the lands being varied with gentle eminences, and watered by rills and small streams. At the time of the general survey, Sible-Hedingham was held by Roger Bigot, by the marriage of whose second daughter it was conveyed to the De Veres, earls of Oxford, from whom it descended in the same manner as Hedingham Castle. The neighbourhood is famous for the growth of hops, and both here and at Sible-Hedingham, the best Essex hops are produced. Petty sessions are held at the Bell commercial inn Castle every alternate Tuesday. Kirby Hall, in this parish, formerly the seat of the Kirby family, is now a farm-house. [Fairs, May 14, 15, July 25, cattle, pleasure.
Also at Virtual Grub Street:
- How Ben Jonson Outed Edward de Vere as Shakespeare. October 15, 2022. "I wonder what language Tucca would have spoke, if honest Capten Hannam had bin borne without a tongue?"
- A 1572 Oxford Letter and the Player’s Speech in Hamlet. August 11, 2020. “The player’s speech has been a source of consternation among Shakespeare scholars for above 200 years. Why was Aeneas’ tale chosen as the subject?”
- Gutenberg, proto-Hack Writers and Shakespeare. May 26, 2020. “A less well known effect of the Reformation was that many young Catholic men who had taken religious orders in order to receive an education began to lead lives at large from monastic discipline. Like Erasmus and Rabelais they took up the pen.”
- Shakespeare’s Funeral Meats. May 13, 2020. “Famous as this has been since its discovery, it has been willfully misread more often than not. No mainstream scholar had any use for a reference to Hamlet years before it was supposed to have been written.”
- Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
- Check out the Letters Index: Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford for many letters from this fascinating time, some related to the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
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