Donnington Castle, South East England

All that remains of Donnington Castle today, is the 14th Century gatehouse.  Even without the castle behind it, the gatehouse is still imposing. Foundations stones show the outline of the castle that once stood here.  Donnington was never built to have a Keep, but instead consisted of a curtain wall with four circular corner towers and two square towers. Other buildings would have been built internally from the curtain wall inwards as required, and all of this was built around a central courtyard. 

The Manor of Donnington, was held by the Abberbury family from the late 13th Century.  In 1386, Sir Richard Abberbury requested and was given, a licence to crenellate (create defences) his lands at Donnington, by King Richard II. Abberbury had fought at the battles of Crecy and Poitiers with the King’s father, Edward, the Black Prince. He was also appointed as Chamberlain to Richard II’s Queen, Anne of Bohemia. Abberbury was expelled from the court in 1388 by the Lords Appellant, who were a group of nobles who sought to restrict the King’s rule and wanted to eliminate his key supporters.  Abberbury retired to Donnington and the castle passed to his son. 

In 1415, Donnington Castle was sold to Thomas Chaucer, who was Speaker of the House of Commons and the son of Geoffrey Chaucer, writer of the Canterbury Tales.  It then passed through the marriage of his daughter Alice, who on her third marriage, to William de la Pole, brought the castle to the de la Pole family, who were the Dukes of Suffolk. They were supporters of the Yorkist cause during the Wars of the Roses, and after the Yorkist defeat at the Battle of Bosworth, they were attainted and the castle reverted to the Crown. 

In 1514, Henry VIII granted the castle at Donnington, to Charles Brandon when he made him Duke of Suffolk. However, by 1535 it was back in Crown ownership.  Henry VIII visited the castle in 1539 and 1541. The castle was also visited by Edward VI in 1551 and Elizabeth I in 1568.