Monument Type(s):

• CASTLE? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

Antiquarian references to a castle site at Rowton, which was succeeeded by the 18th century house (PRN 13190).

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events: None recorded

Description

[Discussing 18th century house ]...on site of medieval castle destroyed in 1482…<1>

Site of a castle long destroyed, situated W of the 19C castle. It is first mentioned in 1282 when destroyed by the Welsh, but was apparently soon rebuilt, possibly by the Lovells…About 1463 it was acquired by the Lysters, and Saxton's map of 1577 shows the castle and a park. During the civil war it is reputed to have been beseiged and destroyed by fire…in 1645 it was reported that 'the enemioes forces have quitted Rouse Castle'. Another reference to it at this time calls it 'Routhsea Castle'. It was still standing in the late 17th C, and in his will dated 1696, Richard Lyster instructs his executors to spend £1000 to build a house 'upon the bank where the old castle stands or near thereunto'. <2>

At the end of the 13th century Rowton Castle became the property of the Burnells of Acton Burnell, and the powerful Bishop Robert Burnell, one time Chancellor of England and confidant of Edward I, held it at his death in 1291 – at which time there was a deer park. Most accounts of the site, even if official documents, state categorically that there was a castle at Rowton which was burnt by the Welsh in 1482. This is obviously wrong and is presumably the repetition of a misprint for 1282 – which could relate to the wars of Llewellyn ap Gruffyd – but more likely for 1402 and related to the rising of Owain Glyndwr who is known to have laid waste to much of western Shropshire in this period. ->

-> The Burnells continued to own the estate until 1463 when it was sold to William Lyster, a Shrewsbury merchant; the Lyster family and their descendants then owned it until just before 1922. Thomas Lyster was a Royalist during the Civil War and was knighted – and then captured. There is a tradition that his house at Rowton – possibly incorporating parts of a medieval castle – was garrisoned for the Crown under the leadership of his wife who held out for two weeks during a Parliamentary siege. This is disputed by the VCH who considered it a late-19th century myth, suggesting the first ‘account’ of this event was not published until 1899. However, whatever the truth of the matter, the tradition had been published earlier, in 1853. In 1696 Thomas’s son, Richard Lyster, left the not inconsiderable sum of £1,000 to be used by his executers to build a new house at Rowton ‘upon the bank where the old castle stands, or near thereunto’. This appears to have been a plain five-bay brick building of two storeys with attics above a basement, built in the contemporary ‘Queen Anne’ style; it remains embedded within the present enlarged property [see PRN 13190]. <3>

<01> Department of the Environment (DoE), 1986-Mar-18, 41st List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, p.33 (List of Buildings). SSA2238.

<02> Jackson M, 1985, A gazetteer of Medieval castles in England. Part 33- Shropshire, pp.37-38 (Gazetteer). SSA29943.

<03> Morriss Richard K, 2017, The Walled Garden, Rowton Castle, Alberbury, Shropshire: a heritage impact assessment (Deskbased survey report). SSA30421.

Sources

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