Venue Type & Location
Overview
Croft Castle is situated on a small hill overlooking the Lugg valley and backed by Croft Ambrey, an Iron Age hill fort. The castle is surrounded by thickly wooded parkland, with a line of Spanish chesnuts creating an avenue stretching approximately half a mile to the west of the house.
Built in the late 14th c. or early 15th c. for defence purposes, the castle is a large, irregularly quadrangular, yellow/grey sandstone building of simple design, built around a central courtyard. Towers guard each of the corners at the junction of massive external walls.
It is likely that the original medieval hall was located in the west range, although no medieval openings or other features currently survive in any of the four ranges around the central courtyard. The modern hall has been lined with mid 17th c. panelling.
Current Status
History of the Venue
late 14th c.--early 15th c. Castle built.
16th c. N range rebuilt with the NE turret and a large L-shaped wing added on the N side; corner towers heightened by another storey using red sandstone.
1645 Dismantled by Royalists during the Civil War. [Ullmann]
1659 After the deaths of his elder brothers William (d 1645) and James (d 1659), the castle was inherited and restored by Herbert Croft, Bishop of Hereford (d 1691). [Ullmann]
1676 Bishop Croft settles Castle on his son Sir Herbert, Bart. [Ullmann]
Two-storeyed structures built against the curtain wall, later raised on the west and south sides, replaced the internal ranges surrounding the central courtyard. Further rebuilding also took place on the curtain walls of the north and north-east sides and on their associated turrets.
1746 Sir Archer Croft mortgaged the castle to Richard Knight of Downton (d 1765). It was then acquired by Thomas Johnes (d 1780) via marriage to Knight's daughter Elizabeth. [Ullmann]
1760s The central section of the entrance range of the house was remodelled again in the Gothic form. Also during this time the courtyard walls were brick-faced and the principal rooms were remodelled.
1785 Somerset Davies of Wigmore, Herefordshire resident at Croft Castle. He later bought it from Thomas Johnes of Hafod (d 1816). [Ullmann]
1923 The trustees of SIr James Croft, 11th Bart. (d 1941) purchased the castle from the Kevill-Davies family. [Ullmann]
1941 Inherited by Henry Page Croft, 1st Baron Croft, Sir James' cousin. [Ullmann]
1947 Michael, 2nd Baron Croft sold castle to Maj.
Owen Croft, younger brother of Sir Hugh Croft, 12th Bart. [Ullmann]
1956 After the death of Maj. Croft, the castle was puchased by the Ministry of Works and taken over by the National Trust.
Patrons who owned this venue
| Name | Date | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Croft, Edward | 1465-1547 | Knight |
| Croft, James | 1518-1590 | Knight |
Bibliographic Sources
- Emery, Anthony. Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300–1500. 3 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996--2006
- Pevsner, Nikolaus. Herefordshire. Harmondsworth, Midd: Penguin Books, 1963
- Robinson, Charles John. A History of the Mansions and Manors of Herefordshire. London: Longmans, 1873
- Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England. An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Herefordshire. 3 vols. London: HMSO, 1931--4
- Salter, Mike. The Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Malvern, Worc: Folly Publications, 1989
- Shoesmith, Ron. A Guide to Castles and Moated Sites in Herefordshire. Little Logaston: Logaston P, 1996