Hadleigh Castle

Today, I’m going to take you on a journey to one of the breathtaking castles of its time. A decrepit fortification in the English county of Essex, Hadleigh Castle is located south of the town of Hadleigh and commands a view of the Thames Estuary. The fortress, which was surrounded by parkland and was constructed by Hubert de Burgh after 1215 during the reign of Henry III, served an important economic and defensive function. Edward III made extensive additions to the castle and remodelled it, making it a bigger building intended to both give the King a comfortable private house close to London and to offer defence against a hypothetical French attack. The castle, which was constructed on a soft slope of London clay, has frequently been vulnerable to collapse; this, together with the selling of its stonework in the 16th century, has resulted in it being destroyed today.

The First Earl of Kent Hubert de Burgh, a major ally of King John, began construction on Hadleigh Castle. De Burgh was awarded the honour of Rayleigh by John in 1215 as payment for his services, although he opted not to expand the existing stronghold south of the town of Hadleigh. Although the precise date of the building is unknown, it is now thought that it took place early in de Burgh's ownership of the property, with permission being retroactively officially verified through a crenellation licence granted by Henry III in 1230.The location was chosen to observe the Thames estuary from the summit of the South Essex South Ridge, which was produced from typically supple strata of London clay.

The region would have been more forested than it is now in the 13th century when marshlands would have extended far to the south of the castle and the tide would have periodically reached as high up as the base of the hill itself. By 1235, a park called Hadleigh had grown up around the castle, complete with trees, a pond, stables, and a park lodge. However, the castle was also a part of a larger estate that included the parks at Rayleigh, Thundersley, and Eastwood.In 1948, the Salvation Army donated the castle to the Ministry of Works; now, it belongs to English Heritage and is a Grade I listed building and scheduled monument. The northeast tower partially fell in the 1950s, and there have been more significant slippages in 1969, 1970, and 2002.

One of the three-story towers on the eastern side is nearly full height and has upper levels with small rectangular windows. Only roughly a third of the second tower's original form remains. The great hall, solars, and kitchen's foundations have all survived, as have some pieces of the curtain wall. The Salvation Army farm from the 19th century still encircles the castle, and Hadleigh Country Park, which is owned and run by Essex County Council and designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest with a focus on invertebrates, is beyond that. The 2012 Summer Olympics' mountain biking competition will take place in Hadleigh Farm, which is close to the castle, it was revealed in 2008.