Somerton Castle

Somerton Castle is located approximately one mile west of the village of Boothby Graffoe in Lincolnshire, England and to the south of the city of Lincoln, England. The site is on low-lying land between the Lincoln Edge and the River Witham. Although Somerton Castle is in the parish of Boothby Graffoe, it is in the Manor of Waddington and this portion is often referred to as the Manor of Somerton Castle. Antony Bek probably built the castle in 1281 and he gave it to King Edward II in 1309. King John II of France was imprisoned at Somerton Castle between 1359 and 1360, having been taken prisoner after the Battle of Poitiers. It continued as crown property until it was sold by Charles I in 1628, since when the castle has continued in private ownership.
Antony Bek inherited Somerton from his mother, Eva de Gray, and built the castle after being granted a licence to crenellate in 1281. In 1309 Bek gave the castle as a gift to King Edward II. The castle was found to be in poor condition at the accession of King Edward II, lead had been stolen from the towers and the great hall and the chapel, which were on the west side of the castle, were in poor repair. After the accession of Edward III in 1330, John Crabbe, a military engineer was appointed Constable of the Castle, and in autumn of 1334 King Edward visited the castle, presumably to authorise repair work. A total of £222 was spent during the next two years on rebuilding the outer drawbridge and remaking part of the moat – presumably this was the time when the outer bailey to the south of the castle was constructed. In late 1335 or early 1336 the Countess Alice de Lacy of Bolingbroke, Countess of Lincoln, was held and raped at Somerton after being kidnapped from her castle at Bolingbroke by Baron Hugh de Fresne. They married later that year, although without royal authority and so, by order of Edward III, they were held captive in separate towers in Somerton Castle. Royal assent was granted on 20 March 1336, however de Fresne died in December of 1336 and the countess Alice returned to Bolingbroke. After Crabbe's death in 1351/2, Stephen Shawe was appointed as Constable and regular repairs took place to the domestic buildings in the inner court. Further repairs and alterations took place in 1359-60 when King John II of France was held captive in the castle having been taken prisoner after the Battle of Poitiers. Sir Saier De Rochford, ancestor of the Rochford family of Stoke Rochford, "an eminent soldier in the wars of France," and High Sheriff of Lincolnshire, was allowed two shillings a day for the safekeeping of King John while at Somerton.

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