ABSTRACT
The barons had rent themselves to pieces in the Wars of the Roses, their ranks had been thinned and their power reduced by death in battle or upon the scaffold, by forfeiture of estates and by the ruinous cost of maintaining private armies. Thornbury Castle is one of the most remarkable buildings in England. In front of the castle is a spacious forecourt, enclosed by long ranges of barrack and stable accommodation, large enough to house a whole regiment of armed retainers; far more than the mere garrisoning of the castle could have needed. Many an English castle held in the Royalist cause, like Ashby and Raglan, went down fighting and suffered the inevitable end of ‘slighting’ at the hands of the victorious Parliament. During the Civil War Corfe Castle was twice besieged by the forces of Parliament. On the first occasion, in 1643, it was heroically defended by the owner’s wife, Lady Bankes.
