With the rain pouring down outside, I like to remember lovely summer days, not long ago, and a spare afternoon that provided my husband and I with the chance to go out and visit Clare Castle Country Park again, this time with a picnic. We had previously visited by chance a few years ago while ... Read review
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Advantages: History, Wildlife, Beautiful Scenery, and all FREE! Disadvantages: Unfortunately there is not much of the castle 'keep' left to see.
...to go out and visit Clare Castle Country Park again, this time with a picnic. We had previously visited by chance a few years ago while out on a drive with my youngest son, and had noticed that Clare had a castle. This led us to take a closer look, being interested in history and architecture.
HISTORY:
Clare castle is an example of a classic Norman 'motte and bailey' castle. It was first built in around 1090 ... ...of Clare by his cousin William the Conqueror. Originally the 'keep' was made of timber, but it was replaced in the 13th century by the stone 'keep' of which one small section remain to see today, along with an inner bailey wall, and the odd bit of brickwork here and there!
In 1317 Elizabeth de Burgh, sister of Lord Gilbert de Clare inherited the castle, she was a powerful and important woman and an ancestor to our present monarch. ... more
With the rain pouring down outside, I like to remember lovely summer days, not long ago, and a spare afternoon that provided my husband and I with the chance to go out and visit Clare Castle Country Park again, this time with a picnic. We had previously visited by chance a few years ago while out on a drive with my youngest son, and had noticed that Clare had a castle. This led us to take a closer look, being interested in history and architecture.
HISTORY:
Clare castle is an example of a classic Norman 'motte and bailey' castle. It was first built in around 1090 as a defence, when Richard Fitzgilbert was given the Manor of Clare by his cousin William the Conqueror. Originally the 'keep' was made of timber, but it was replaced in the 13th century by the stone 'keep' of which one small section remain to see today, along with an inner bailey wall, and the odd bit of brickwork here and there!
In 1317 Elizabeth de Burgh, sister of Lord Gilbert de Clare inherited the castle, she was a powerful and important woman and an ancestor to our present monarch. She kept detailed records of the castles reconstruction up until her death in 1360. During this period the castle was at it best, Elizabeth entertained royalty here, and in1336 funded the beginning of Clare College in Cambridge.
In 1461 the castle became crown property under Edward IV, London then became the governing centre for the country instead of the individual Kingdoms, and war eventually became centred abroad with coastlines being defended. The castle was left abandoned, and over the years much of the materials used to build the castle were taken away to re-use elsewhere.
By 1600 the 'keep' looked pretty much as it does today.
I always thought of a castle as the actual building, but it seems this is the 'keep' and the complete area that is usually walled is the actual castle. The motte is the mound of earth, on which the keep stands, and the bailey is where everyone else occupied below. There is an inner and outer bailey just to make things more complicated! The inner bailey housed all the domestic buildings needed for the castle as well as 250 people.
As we had been here before we knew what to expect, and leaving the car in the 'park and display' car park, we walked through the gates and into the visitors centre, which was originally the Goods Shed. It houses a full sized goods wagon that comes out through the two big doors at the end for events that are held in the park. Here we found leaflets produced by Suffolk County Council; they are full of information and history, with trails to follow for the specific subject that they cover. I picked up one of each to read later, but also read bits as we went round. I would recommend reading the trail ones before starting out, as we 'missed' some of the places, even if there was little to mark them - its nice to imagine where the drawbridge and possibly portcullis would have been.
AVAILABLE LEAFLETS:
The history trail - The castle and railway The railway trail Trees, their uses and mythology The nature trail guide.
A WALK AROUND, AND UP THE MOUND:
Well, we started off by making our way over to the inner bailey with an aim to climb to the top of the motte. I am sure that that is a priority with most able bodied people who enjoy a bit of exertion! We walked up a sleep flight of steps call the 'Lady Walk' and found ourselves in the inner bailey with an original wall housing a closed gateway, to our right. We walked along this and then started to climb up and round in a clockwise direction till we got to the top, the words of "The Grand Old Duke of York" in my head (it was like one of those helter skelters that you craft out of a sandcastle on the beach to run your tennis ball down!). At the top the first thing you see is the remaining wall of the 'keep', the first time we visited I was a little disappointed, as I had expected more of the original building to be standing, we actually made a joke of climbing all the way up to see a wall! However on a second inspection, we looked at the wall and saw that two plaques had been placed there, in memory of Francis Henry May (justice of the peace/ex Governor of Hong Kong & Figi) who died in 1922, and his wife Helena, whose ashes both lay beside the wall.
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I just had a little history detour here online to find out what connection Francis May had with Suffolk and Clare. It seems that his widow Helena took over at Clare Priory with her children and her father, (whose footsteps Francis had followed in) when the old Priory was passed into private ownership. These owners were apparantly the last members to hold private residency before it was returned to the Augustinian Friars. I guess the connection might well have been instigated by money!
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The views from the top were not exceptionally great, maybe in winter when the trees are not thick with leaves you would see further afield. An information board helps to spot the obvious landmarks including the church and village, and there is a bench on the grassy summit. Walking down behind the wall I noticed that the side more protected from the elements is in better condition, less weathered. Walking back down I took some pictures of the station house amongst the trees.
At the bottom we followed the paths that led to the outer bailey, apparently this was 'Station Road' in more recent history, as it starts at the station house. The remains of the moat and rampart wall were visible on our left. The outer bailey is set aside as a children's timber built adventure playground on bark chippings, ideal for children under 10, with toilets in the area. There are more information boards to read, and picnic benches to sit at here. Just make sure the children are watched at all times as the castle moat is now a series of wildlife ponds.
THE RAILWAY:
I was quite interested to see the route that the trains used to take. Although the tracks are long gone the well worn routes cannot be disguised, and the platforms are still clearly visible, though covered when we visited with daisy laden grass. The trains used to run right through the goods shed. In fact one of the castles remaining walls was demolished in 1865 to make room for the new railway.
The railway was built in 1865, it is the only castle in England that has a railway station within its ramparts. Apparently while the station and station road were being built, a gold cross was found by one of the railway workers. It is believed to have belonged to Joan of Acre (not to be confused with Arc!) wife of the former Lord Gilbert Clare who was killed in battle in 1314. The cross claims to contain part of the original 'True Cross' and the railway worker got a pint of beer by selling it! It was presented to Queen Victoria and it is now part of the Royal Collection and has been displayed in the British Museum and the V&A Museum.
The railway line was opened by the Great Eastern Railway in 1865, on one platform you could get to Sudbury and Colchester, and on the other side you could go to Haverhill and Cambridge. These lines joined with others which had already opened some 16 years before. Between 1865 and 1966 it was a busy railway yard, and as well as being a means of buying and selling to a wider area, it brought the cost of living down affording poorer people to have cheap trips and holidays.
The station office, housed the stationmaster, and had a ticket office, which is now the park office. The middle section was the entrance for passengers. It is a nice looking red bricked building, and although before the railway came the inner bailey housed the likes of a village, it is now the only habitable building left, and I am sure that it must seem very isolated in the winter months.
Following the route on the Railway trail, we went along the station platform to where the former coal yard would have been, Claire station it seems stored coal for the whole of the village. We walked through the railway 'cutting' originally dug out by hard working 'navvies' (according to the information given in the leaflet) along the way there are information boards depicting wildlife that can be found in the area, including birds, ducks, trees, flowers etc. My leaflet also tells of one young man of 18 who lost his life on his first day digging, when there was a landslip.
Clare originally had two stations, as the owner of the old priory struck a deal with the railway company to have his own station for personal use, he used to hail them when he wanted to get on, so that he didn't have to walk to Clare station, how bizarre!
The railway brought wealth into Clare until the roads took over, and in 1966 goods transported by rail ceased and the railway between Sudbury and Cambridge was finally closed in 1967.
We stopped by the side of a wildlife pond, it was warm and sunny, there was a family of ducks out for a swim, and all was well! We found a bench under the trees and ate our picnic. As the sun beat down it was easy to imagine days gone by in the life and times of the castle.
DOGS:
Dogs are allowed in the castle as long as they are well behaved. They are not however allowed in the children's play, or picnic areas.
WHERE IS CLARE?
The park is in Suffolk, south of Clare itself, and is signposted from the A1092. Any further directions can be found on the websites at the end of this review. If I tried to explain how I got us there, you would need to have double the fuel, as I always get lost en-route!
MY OPINION:
To appreciate this country park I would suggest that you need an open mind and a good imagination, people that need visible objects to satisfy their curiosity might be a little disappointed. Once I got past the fact that a lot that was once there is no longer visible to the eye, I enjoyed the history lesson and hunt for the 'signs'. You can imagine knights in armour and the villagers living in the baileys! It is a shame that in the name of progress such a lot of history is lost.
As a 'free' afternoon out, I can only praise Clare, it was a lovely place for a picnic, there were set walks round the park to follow, and a place for children to let of more steam if climbing to the top of the motte didn't wear them out!
OTHER INFORMATION:
Clare Castle is open all year round, except for Christmas and New Year.
There is a year round programme of events and I see that the next one is for a Children's Halloween Treasure Trail on 26th October 2.00pm - 3.30pm and its FREE!
Look out for many other events, including Easter trails, Children's fun Day, days when steam engines are there to explore, Shakespeare in the park, and the 'Chivalry in the Park' when a whole weekend is given up in the name of history and includes medieval games, crafts, combat re-enactments, and madness! Lots of events are free, others have a small charge. The most expensive was for the Shakespeare play, otherwise there was nothing over £3 per adult.
School trips are popular, there are notes for teachers online. Pond dipping is done in the park, I guess this is still part of the curriculum.
If you need further information get in touch with the Country Park Senior Ranger, John Laws Clare Castle Country Park Maltings Lane Clare Suffolk CO10 8NJ
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