TATTERSHALL CASTLE

An amazing 15th century moated red brick castle.

There has been a castle at Tattershall since at least 1231, when Robert de Tateshale received a licence from King Henry III to build a crenelated stone manor house.  In the early 15th century, the castle was acquired by Ralph, 3rd Baron Cromwell, who became Treasurer of England in 1433.  Cromwell upgraded and enlarged the property, including building the great tower, enlarging the moat and adding an additional outer moat.  Unusually, Cromwell used brick rather than stone.  In 1453, Thomas Neville married Cromwell niece, Maude Stanhope at Tattershall.  The powerful Neville family was mid-feud with the equally powerful Percy family and it was when en route from Tattershall to home turf at Sheriff Hutton that the Neville wedding party was famously attacked by the Percys.

After Cromwell’s death, Tattershall passed to the Crown.  It was subsequently owned by various loyal and/or royal celebrities, including Edward IV, Henry VII, Margaret Beaufort, Henry VIII, Henry Fitzroy and Charles Brandon.  It then passed to the Clinton family, the Earls of Lincoln.  A large part of the castle was destroyed in 1643 by Royalists during the Civil War and, after the last Earl of Lincoln died in 1693, the castle was abandoned and became derelict.  Eventually, it became a romantic tourist attraction and in 1910 was sold to Americans.  The fireplaces were ripped out and sold.  Thanks to the efforts of the Reverend Yglesias of Holy Trinity Church and Lord Curzon, further destruction was prevented.  Curzon bought the castle and restored it, including reinstating the fireplaces.  It was opened as a visitor attraction in 1914 and was left to the National Trust when Curzon died.  The rescue of Tattershall inspired the first piece of buildings conservation legislation in the world, the 1913 Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act.