Stourton Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Stewpony; Sturseley; Kinver

In the civil parish of Kinver.
In the historic county of Staffordshire.
Modern Authority of Staffordshire.
1974 county of Staffordshire.
Medieval County of Staffordshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO85928492
Latitude 52.46213° Longitude -2.20875°

Stourton Castle has been described as a probable Timber Castle, and also as a certain Palace, and also as a certain Fortified Manor House.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Possibly originated as a hunting lodge in the time of William II, and referred to as the King's House during the reign of Henry II. Restored in 1184-96 and fortified in 1223. The present house incorporates some late medieval and C16 work , but the building was remodelled and rebuilt 1832-3 by James Foster. C19 main front incorporates a late medieval gate tower. The ranges to the south, north and east are C16 in date and once formed three sides of an open courtyard, roofed over as part of the 1832-3 remodelling. (PastScape)

Stourton Castle, home of the lords of Kinver. From 1184-96, the sheriff accounted for digging a ditch around the lodge, and rebuilding works. The latter included a timber hall, offices, gaol kitchen and gate. A palisade was added to the ditch, and fishponds dug. By 1222 it had become known as Stourton Castle, and it was fortified 1222-3. During the remodelling of 1832-3, the foundations of two round towers were uncovered some distance to the North-West, which may suggest a bailey or court. (PastScape ref. VCH)

Large house on the site of a medieval castle. The house incorporates some late Medieval and C16 works but was remodelled and partly rebuilt in 1832-33 in a late Gothic style by James Foster from designs by Sir Robert Smirke. Red brick; plain tile roofs with shaped gables; brick stacks. Main front of 1832-3 to the west, incorporating a late Medieval gate tower; C16 ranges to the north, south and east enclose the other 3 sides of a formerly open courtyard which was roofed over by Foster. West front: 2 storeys with moulded brick parapet band and plain parapet. 1:3:1 bays; central range recessed between flanking gabled wings, mullioned and transomed casements with raised surrounds, windows of central range have small gables over with psuedo-arrow slits matching those of the wings. Central 3 storey gate-tower with moulded off-sets and crenellated parapet; rendered and lined as ashlar; pointed entrance with moulded surround, second storey window has 2 trefoil-headed lights under a segmental pointed arch. In the re-entrant angles between central range and flanking wings are diagonally placed 2-storey bays with parapets and windows of 2 round-headed lights; the left hand bay has a 4-centred doorway. Interior: totally remodelled 1832-3. Plaster fan vaulted entrance with figure corbels; the courtyard is now an entrance hall with Tudor-style stone fireplace. (Listed Building Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1232008
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 116687.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 01230.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Staffordshire Past-Track for old photographs and drawings.
Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 435
  Salter, Mike, 1997, Castles and Moated Mansions of Staffordshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 48-50
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 230
  Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p. 72-3
  Greenslade, M.W. (ed), 1984, VCH Staffordshire Vol. 20 p. 130-5
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 452
  Pevsner, N., 1974, Buildings of England: Staffordshire (London, Penguin) p. 252
  Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol. 2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p. 977-8
  Grazebrook, 1919, History of Stourton Castle and the Royal Forest of Kinver (London)
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Lynam, Charles, 1908, 'Ancient Earthworks' in Page, Wm. (ed), VCH Staffordshire Vol. 1 p. 369-70 (plan) online copy
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 1 p. 401-2 online copy
  Shaw, Stebbing, 1801, The History and Antiquities of Staffordshire (J.Nichols abd Son) (Republished 1976 by EP Publishing) Vol. 2 p. 265-7
Periodical Articles
- Richard Nevell, 2014-15, 'Castles as prisons' Castle Studies Group Journal Vol. 28 p. 203-224
  Palliser, D.M., 1972, 'Staffordshire Castles: A Provisional List' Staffordshire Archaeology Vol. 1 p. 5-8
  Cantor, Leonard, 1966, 'The Medieval Castles of Staffordshire' North Staffordshire Journal of Field Studies Vol. 6 p. 38-46
  Lycett, 1911-13, Worcestershire Naturalists Club Vol. 5 p. 298-9
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)
  Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p. 443, 517
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 5 p. 20, 220 online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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