Peter Carroll is the author of Queen of Misfortune – A Lady Jane Grey Novel. For more information, see his website.
In the early seventies I remember visiting Berry Pomeroy Castle with the family. In those days there were no restrictions and walls which had tumbled remained in place just how they fell.
Now in researching my new book I have been aiming to establish connections between the Tudor dynasty and my home in South Devon – a relevant positive correlation is the purchase made of Berry Pomeroy Castle in the outskirts of Totnes in 1547.from Sir Thomas Pomeroy by Edward Seymour, the 1st Duke of Somerset and the Lord Protector of the young King Edward V1.
The Duke became a very rich man having been favoured by Henry V111 for his victory over the Scots, and took it into his mind to purchase a multitude of properties in England just for the fun of it – although I guess prestige had a lot to do with it. He rarely visited his properties and it was doubtful if he visited Berry Pomeroy because of the distance from London.
But the continuous struggle to maintain power was tenuous indeed. Unfortunately for him along with so many power hungry men of the time his head was removed in 1552 on a charge of treason which, it seems was never verified. But John Dudley, the wicked Duke of Northumberland, had much to do with it.
There was so much scheming in those days and the very cunning Dudley somehow made it look as though the ill-fated Somerset had committed the sin of sins in committing treason against the young King.
Consequently Dudley, having gained the favour of King Henry V111 for putting down the Kett’s uprising in Norfolk, became the Duke of Northumberland, the most powerful man in England.
But it turned out all of his scheming was in vain because – in trying to prevent Mary Tudor from becoming Queen ,which – following his son, Guildford’s marriage to Lady Jane Grey, whom he also duped into being Queen against her will – his aim being to make Guildford King, things went very wrong for him.
It was as if he had not the gumption to realise the citizens of Norfolk had it in for him after his horrendous tortures and execution of both Robert and his brother, William Kett, who championed for local peasants in attempting to restore land taken by the gentry- and where, at Kennington, the incoming Queen Mary Tudor put her claim to the throne. Then, moving to Framlingham Castle in Suffolk, which was better fortified to meet Northumberland’s troops who changed sides realising the enormity of Mary Tudor’s supporters and so Dudley was done for.
Consequently, upon the death of Edward Seymour, Berry Pomeroy and all his lands were forfeit to the crown.
It was not until 1558, that his son by his first marriage gained title to the castle. Like his father he became a considerable landowner earning the title of High Sheriff of Devon.
Not caring much for the old Pomeroy buildings inside the castle walls, between 1560 and 1580 he removed them and erected a new four-storey house at the north end of the courtyard.
Descendants of the Seymour’s were handed down the castle buildings but eventually the pile was neglected and by 1701 was a ruin. John Prince, the Vicar of Totnes in 1675-1681 who had known the castle in its heyday, said in his book The Worthies of Devon:
…The apartments within were very splendid; especially the dining room, which was adorn’d, besides paint, with statues and figures cut in alabaster- ’tis now demolished, and all this glory lieth in the dust…
Once there were 50 rooms there indicating that the Seymour family spent a good deal of money on a castle which was romantically placed on a hill overlooking a wooded valley and no doubt, if those walls could talk, we would know an awful lot more, for walking among the ruins, especially before the pile was restored in the 1980’s. I well remember how it was in the early seventies when anyone could just wander at random and imagine how grand it once was. There was certainly something about the place that I guess will forever be a mystery, like so many of the ruins from the past which still remain, like they are tantalising us to try and work out what exactly happened, the trials and tribulations of the invading Parliamentarians in Cromwell’s time, the spirits of not one but two ladies who are said to haunt the pile.
Unfortunately illiteracy was strife in those times so evidence is always scarce. It will be quite different for our descendants looking back to our present time when they will have ample evidence from various sources.
Amazingly, Berry Pomeroy is still owned by the present Duke of Somerset, though it is now administered by English Heritage.
QUEEN OF MISFORTUNE
A Lady Jane Grey Novel by Peter Carroll
A Love Story of Shakespearean Dimension!
Queen Of Misfortune is the fictional story of Lady Jane Grey as told by her beloved tutor, John Aylmer. At the time of her execution a stranger is recorded to have assisted her when, blind folded, she lost her way upon the scaffold. Was it the same strange who was also recorded to have visited her when she was imprisoned in the Tower? Little is known of this unfortunate girl who was beheaded for treason in the 16th Century. She was only 16. She is omitted from the list of monarchs but was actually queen for nine days. Author Peter Carroll, in his novel, follows John Aylmer’s close relationship with Jane as her tutor and later, as she grows up, her lover. [More...]
Available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.
