Richmont Castle was an 11th century motte-and-bailey

Motte-and-bailey

A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...

 castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 near the village of East Harptree

East Harptree

East Harptree is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated north of Wells and south of Bristol, on the northern slope of the Mendip Hills overlooking the Chew Valley. The parish has a population of 680...

, Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, England. Now totally ruined, it once included parkland, an artificial lake and served as the local minery court.

Location

Richmont Castle was built near the village of East Harptree, Somerset, probably soon after the Norman conquest of England

Norman conquest of England

The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...

 in 1066. The name probably means either "rich mountain" or "strong mountain". The castle was located on a steep spur of ground, over looking the Chew Valley

Chew Valley

The Chew Valley is an area in North Somerset, England, named after the River Chew, which rises at Chewton Mendip, and joins the River Avon at Keynsham...

, with two valleys, called coombe

Coombe

-Places in England:* Coombe, Buckinghamshire* Coombe, Bude, Cornwall* Coombe, Camborne, Cornwall* Coombe, Liskeard, Cornwall* Coombe, Redruth, Cornwall* Coombe, St...

s, dropping away on either side of the spur.

History

The first version of the castle appears to have been constructed using a single bailey on the south side, possibly making use of an existing Iron age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 fortification, similar to that at nearby Bincknoll

Bincknoll Castle

Bincknol Castle or Bincknoll Camp, is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort located in Wiltshire.The site lies on the end of a triangular promentary on the escarpment beneath the Ridgeway to the South. The steeply contoured sides offer excellent natural defences with only the level lands to...

. Later versions of the castle involved the creation of an inner bailey within the first, and a circular keep

Keep

A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...

 on the highest point on the spur. The castle became part of a managed landscape and was surrounded by a park

Medieval deer park

A medieval deer park was an enclosed area containing deer. It was bounded by a ditch and bank with a wooden park pale on top of the bank. The ditch was typically on the inside, thus allowing deer to enter the park but preventing them from leaving.-History:...

 called the Great Park; the keep may have overlooked an artificial lake across the valley floor to the west.

During the 12th century, Richmont Castle was involved in the civil war known as the Anarchy

The Anarchy

The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...

, during which King Stephen

Stephen of England

Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...

 and the Empress Matilda

Empress Matilda

Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...

 attempted to establish control of England. The castle was controlled by Sir William de Harptree, who supported Matilda. In 1138, after failing to take Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, Stephen advanced on Richmont and, according to chroniclers, took the castle through subterfuge. Stephen set up his siege engine

Siege engine

A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some have been operated close to the fortifications, while others have been used to attack from a distance. From antiquity, siege engines were constructed largely of wood and...

s at a distance from the castle and then, when the garrison attempted to take advantage of this by coming out to attack him, quickly attacked and burnt the main gates behind them, successfully taking the castle. The castle was also visited by King John

John of England

John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...

 in 1205. The castle was used by the de Harptrees and de Gurney families for most of the rest of the medieval period, forming the administrative centre and law court for one of the four Mendip mineries in the region.

Abandonment

The castle was ruined and abandoned by the 1540s, with the stone being reused to build local houses. The site was mined extensively between the 17th and 19th centuries for lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...

 and calamine

Calamine

Calamine is a mixture of zinc oxide with about 0.5% ferric oxide . It is the main ingredient in calamine lotion and is used as an antipruritic to treat mild pruritic conditions such as sunburn, eczema, rashes, poison ivy, chickenpox, and insect bites and stings...

, used at the foundries at Bristol. Today the site is a scheduled monument, and a small fragment of the keep can still be seen on the site.