Faringdon Castle
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Faringdon Castle was just outside the market town of Faringdon in the English county of Oxfordshire (formerly Berkshire until 1974), some 17 Km to the north-east of Swindon (grid reference SU297957).
This castle was built on the site of an Iron Age hillfort known as Faringdon Clump by Robert, Earl of Gloucester in 1144 in support of Matilda in the Anarchy. However as soon as it was built it was besieged by Stephen and after 4 days the castellan, Brian De Soulis, surrendered. The castle was destroyed within a year or two.
In the 1930s a 104ft brick tower known as Faringdon Folly was built on the site by Lord Berners.
[edit] References
- Faringdon Castle
- Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, The David & Charles Book of Castles, David & Charles, 1980. ISBN 0-7153-7976-3