Page 8 - John Barber's Oakham Castle and its archaeology
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Oakham Castle Time Line
Based on T H McK Clough, Oakham Castle: A Guide and History (4th edition, Rutland County Council, 2008)
Circa 1075 The motte and bailey is constructed.
Circa 1180 The Great Hall is built by Walkelin de Ferrers.
1206 King John visits Oakham.
1219-1258 Henry III visits Oakham at least seven times.
1229 The first recorded assize.
13th century A gateway and drawbridge and a stone curtain wall are built against the existing earthworks.
1264 The Great Hall is damaged by fire in the Barons’ War during Richard Earl of Cornwall’s tenure of Oakham.
1300 A garden, fishponds, windmill, water-mill, and deer parks are noted in the inquisition post mortem following
the death of Richard Earl of Cornwall.
1307 Edward II issues a general order to fortify all castles, including Oakham. The curtain wall of the inner bailey
was probably completed before this date but possibly then improved.
1323 Edward II visits Oakham.
1340 Inquisition – At Oakham there is a certain castle, well walled, and in that castle are a hall, four rooms, a
chapel, a kitchen, two stables, a barn for hay, a house for prisoners – the county gaol, a room for the gate-
keeper, and a drawbridge with iron chains. The castle contains within its wall an estimated two acres of
ground. The same is called the manor of Oakham. Outside the castle is a garden, and fish ponds and a moat.
1361 Inquisition –…worth nothing per annum … but in need of repair (the Great Hall is now nearly 200 years old
and the country is suffering plague, famine, and loss of man-power).
1373 William Flore repairs houses, walls and buildings in the manor.
1373-75 The Great Chapel and the King’s two great chambers are pargeted and whitewashed. A chimney is inserted in
the chamber by the gate. In the following year a new chapel and chamber are built, with a passageway
connecting the chapel to the hall. It has stone walls, a tiled roof, and three glazed windows.
1375 Edward III’s last visit to Oakham.
1378 Richard II visits Oakham.
1380 Summer grazing in the small park is granted to William Flore.
1380 Richard II visits: repairs are made to doors, walls and windows, a chimney is made for the King’s chamber
and a new roasting house is built.
1382 Timber, tiles and slates purchased for repairs at Oakham and Rockingham castles.
1385 5000 Collyweston slates sent to Oakham.
1388 Inquisition – the buildings are in a poor state, suffering from neglect and lack of maintenance.
1388-90 Minor repairs are carried out. Late medieval stock is grazing within the bailey.
1521 Inquisition following the execution of the Duke of Buckingham – there is an old castle, all ruinous…the hall
is in the best state of repair, and old fashioned…but reasonable and roofed for the courts held there.
Everything else is probably in a state of collapse, never to be resurrected. By the early 16th century the hall
probably ceased to be used for any domestic purpose. As Burley on the Hill became the residence of the lord
of the manor the Great Hall was kept largely because of its use for court purposes.
16th century A window is inserted into the east wall.
1584 Robert Johnson’s grammar school is established
1621 George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, now resides in the first big house at Burley on the Hill.
He probably:
Levelled the ruins around the castle and the old domestic offices at the east and west end;
Re-roofed the great hall;
Installed a new pediment over the Castle Lane gateway.
1684 James Wright’s illustration (fig. 20) shows the Great Hall standing alone within the remnants of the wall.
1730 Buck’s engraving (fig. 21) shows a similar condition.
Between 1730 and 1847 The entrance into the great hall is moved.
Early 19th century Dormer windows are inserted into the north and south aisles.
1872 The gateway is rebuilt.
1911 The Great Hall is restored in memory of the Rt Hon G H Finch, MP for Rutland for 40 years, with extensive
repairs to the east wall and the stone flagged floor.
1953-54 Peter Gathercole conducts an archaeological excavation of the moated area to the south of the bailey
(Gathercole 1958).
1955-59 John Barber conducts archaeological excavations adjacent to the Great Hall.
1980 The Great Hall is rewired and redecorated.
1989 Josephine Sharman and Deborah Sawday carry out an archaeological evaluation in the outer bailey for
Leicestershire Museums.
2011 Terrestrial laser scan and photographic survey of the defence earthworks, the Great Hall interior, and Cutt’s
Close by Trent & Peak Archaeology (Shepherd & Walker 2011).
2012 Channel 4’s Time Team carries out excavations in the Castle grounds (Good & Mepham 2013).
2013 Nick Hill’s architectural re-assessment of the Great Hall appears in Antiquaries Journal (Hill 2013).
2013-14 Rutland County Council prepares a bid for a Heritage Lottery Fund award to ensure the future of the Castle
and its site.
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