1886 - Redfern, Francis - History and Antiquities of Town of Uttoxeter (4)

From International Robin Hood Bibliography
Allusion
Date 1886
Author Redfern, Francis
Title History of the Town of Uttoxeter: with Notices of Places in its Neighbourhood
Mentions Chartley Castle; Randolf, Earl of Chester; Robin Hood; Robert de Ferrers, 6th Earl of Derby
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Ruins of Chartley Castle.

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2020-10-18. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2021-01-17.

Allusion

CHARTLEY—CHARTLEY CASTLE.

 Chartley Castle, six miles west of Uttoxeter, was built in 1220, by Richard Blunderville [sic], Earl of Chester, on his return from the Holy Land, and an impost was levied upon all his vassals to defray the expense of building. After the death of the founder, the castle and estate fell to William Ferrars, Earl of Derby, whose son Robert forfeited them by his rebellion. Afterwards he was allowed to [p. 437:] retain them. They were subsequently carried by marriage to the family of Devereux, and then to those of Shirley and Townsend, and Lady Northampton gave up all she could of Chartley, namely, the estate, to one of her uncles, the then Earl Ferrars, to whose descendants it now belongs. Of the castle, which has been in ruins from before the time of Leland, there remain fragments of three round towers, in two of which there are loopholes so constructed as to allow of the arrows being shot diagonally into the ditch. The keep was circular, and about fifty feet in diameter. The ancient manor house was curiously made of wood, the sides carved, and the top embatteled, and the arms of the Devereux, with the devices of the Ferrers and Garnishers, were in the windows, and in many parts within and without the house. For some time it was the prison of the unfortunate Mary, Queen of the Scots, who wrought a bed that was in it. On her way to Stafford in 1575, Queen Elizabeth visited it. It was burnt down in 1781, but an engraving of it appears in Dr. Plott's "Natural History" of the county. The park is a thousand acres, and the breed of the wild beasts of Needwood Forest are preserved in it to this day. It is traditionally said that Robin Hood found asylum at Chartley Castle; and its founder, Randall of Chester, is thus named in connection with the famed Robin, by the author of "Piers Plowman"—

I can persitly [sic] my paternoster, as the priest it singeth;
I can rhyme of Robin Hood, and Randall of Chester.[1]

Source notes

IRHB's brackets.

IRHB comments

The version in 1865 - Redfern, Francis - History of Town of Uttoxeter (4) is virtually identical.

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