Stogursey Castle was built to the south of the village of Stogursey by the family of the De Courcys, probably in the late 11th or early 12th century.[1] The name Stogursey is a corruption of Stoke Courcy.[2] The castle was a motte-and-bailey design with a 60 metre wide, two metre tall motte and two bailey enclosures, surrounded by a water-filled moat, fed from the nearby Stogursey Brook.[3]
The castle was controlled by King John of England during the First Barons’ War, and was ordered to be destroyed in 1215, but survived; John’s lieutenant Falkes de Breaut? took control of the castle, and after his death a second order to destroy the property was given in 1228, again apparently ignored.[1] The castle was extended in stone in 1300 by the Fitzpayne family, but was destroyed in the 1450s by the Yorkist faction during the War of the Roses.[1] A house was built within the castle grounds in the 17th century and was restored in the 1870s, but by the late 20th century had itself become ruined.[4]Stogursey, Bridgwater TA5 1TG, UK