This time we visit Farleigh Hungerford Castle in Somerset, 30 miles to the south of Bath and
a few miles from Bradford upon Avon. The remains of the castle stand in a tranquil valley on the
banks of the River Frome. Occupied for 300 years by the Hungerford family, the property has many
gruesome tales to tell and treasures to see like the chapel where the Hungerford tombs lie
and the crypt housing human-shaped lead-lined coffins. Managed by English Heritage you can
find all the information on visiting at this website. You can grab an audio tour to scan
at various points around the grounds and hear more about that area and stories from the past.
The castle began in 1383 by Sir Thomas Hungerford he had been elected the first speaker of the house
of commons in 1377 and built it as a symbol of the family's status. It would have had four large
towers on each corner of the quadrangle with the inner court at the centre.
The castle was enlarged by Sir Thomas's son, Walter First Baron Hungerford. Pledging his
allegiance to the house of Lancaster and serving for Henry V, he became rich during
the hundred-year war with France and added an additional outer court and enclosed the parish
church to become the castle's chapel in the process. A new church was built in the village.
From above you can see where the inner and outer courts were including the four towers.
This replica model helps you imagine how the ruins of the castle might have looked during its heyday.
You can see all the domestic buildings and the great hall in the centre of the inner court.
There would have been a moat around the castle for extra protection but this has been filled in.
Walter left the castle to his son Robert, Second Baron Hungerford. Unfortunately,
his eldest son also called Robert was captured by the French in the battle of Castilian in 1453.
The ransom to release him was ten thousand pounds and this crippled the family financially.
This occurred at the same time as the War of the Roses, the struggle for the English crown between
the Royal houses of York and Lancaster, both Roberts adhered to the Lancastrian
cause and were executed in 1469 with the castle confiscated by the Yorkist regime.
In 1486 Sir Walter Hungerford regained ownership of the castle a gift from Henry
VII for his personal efforts towards victory at the Battle of Bosworth. He would pass this
on to his son Edward in 1516 a member of the Henry VIII court and a successful man.
He married a widow, Agnes Cotle and it wasn't until after Edward's death in 1522
that allegations emerged she murdered her first husband motivated by the wealth she could obtain
from a second marriage to Edward. She strangled her husband with the help of two servants and
burned his body in the kitchen fire. They were found guilty and all hanged for the crime.
In front of us, we see the Lady Tower. In this photo, you can see it's divided into five floors
with a tiled conical roof. If you'd visited in the 1800s
it would have looked very much like this however on bonfire night 1842
children set fire to the ivy growing around the tower and it was all but destroyed.
Edward's successor his son another Walter, who served with Thomas Cromwell
in Henry VIII's court kept his third wife Elizabeth in the tower for several years.
It was thought he wanted to be rid of her and may have even had the chaplain try and poison her. She
relied on the local villagers for food and drink this is why the tower is called the Lady Tower.
Walter would become Lord Hungerford but his association with Cromwell would be his downfall
and they were both beheaded at the Tower of London on the orders of Henry VIII in 1540. The castle
fell into the hands of the Crown once more. The family regained the castle in 1554 for a large
sum and over the next hundred years, it would be altered improved and repaired by successors.
During the English Civil war, it was a target and briefly captured seeing the only military action
in its history. Sir Edward Hungerford regained the castle in 1645 but he would die three years later.
In 1686 the current heir Edward Hungerford IV found himself in heavy debt due to his
extravagant ways. He had to sell the castle to the Banyton family and the Hungerfords
left the castle forever. By the early 1700s, it would be sold for salvage and stripped of all
its materials and fittings worth anything leaving us with much of what we see today,
although the chapel and outbuildings we will visit next have been restored.
Walking around the ruins you can still see the foundations of many of the domestic buildings
here we see the well for the fresh water.
This would have been the wall of the inner court and the small bridge takes us
over the original moat before the outer court was added.
Behind the chapel, we see the priest's house this was created when the parish church was
absorbed into the castle as part of the outer court addition to accommodate the chantry
priests employed to pray in the chapel for the souls of the family. After the Reformation,
it became a dairy and then a farmhouse remaining until 1959. This area is now used to show an
exhibition about the castle detailing much of what we've shared with you already.
There are also some interesting artefacts and finds along with a scale model of the castle.
Let's make our way to the chapel of Saint Leonard.
The chapel must be the best-preserved feature of the castle.
It has many monuments to the Hungerford family,
the highlight is that of Sir Thomas and his second wife Lady Joan with their effigies. You can still
see some of the original paintworks they are enclosed in iron railings which were added later.
Another is the ornate marble 17th-century monument to Sir Edward Hungerford III and
his wife Lady Margaret. His monument shows him clad in his Civil War armour,
his body is actually in the crypt below the chapel.
Around the tombs, the walls are covered with Hungerford heraldry and the floor is tiled this
along with the iron railings is believed to have been the work of Lady Margaret before she died.
This colorful tomb commemorates Sir Edward Hungerford IV
although his body also lies in the crypt below the chapel.
This 15th-century wall painting of Saint George was probably
commissioned in the 1440s by Walter First Baron Hungerford.
Stepping down below the chapel we enter the 17th-century burial crypt
containing eight human-shaped lead coffins which are really unusual. Two are of infants and four
of the adult coffins have moulded faces perhaps based on death masks along with Hungerford IV
remember he sold Farleigh, are the remains of Sir Edward Hungerford III and his family.
These coffins contain embalmed bodies pickled in fluid. In the 1830s travellers or tourists
would come to the ruins of the castle to see the bodies and in a macabre act, holes were drilled in
the lead so samples of the corpse embalming fluid could be offered around for tasting!
On that grizzly note we'll remind you that we have more like this on our channel so do
subscribe and follow us on social media. It's been great fun finding out about the Hungerford family,
the castle and its historic past. Join us again for more. Thanks for watching.