Enborne Walk 2

Our happy group of maybe twenty nice humans and three dogs at least, continued through the Craven Estate. William Craven, 1608-1697, was an English Nobleman and soldier.  He fought for Frederick V in Europe and fell in love with his wife, Elizabeth of Bohemia.  William planned to build a palace for Elizabeth at Hamstead Marshall, where we walk today, but she died before construction began.   The palace was based on Heidelberg Castle in Germany.  Sadly, in a way, the palace burnt down in the 19C and only the gates remain.  What a tourist attraction that would have been!

The estate is quite beautiful to walk through and was in the Craven family until the 1980s.  

American service men were stationed here in WW2 prior to D-Day.  There is a monument to them which I have mentioned in a previous blog.  

We make a diversion to think about Mr Marshal (one L) himself, who hails from a more distant era.   We climb a hill to see what remains of his castle moat.  

Newbury Castle was built by John Marshal who was tied up in The Anarchy.  This was a war in England and Normandy between 1135 and 1154, characterised by a breakdown in law and order. The conflict originated with a succession crisis towards the end of the reign of Henry 1, whose only legitimate son, William, died in 1120. Henry's attempts to install his daughter, the Empress Matilda, as his successor were unsuccessful, what a disgrace.  On Henry's death in 1135, his nephew Stephen, took power as King of England.  Matilda kept up a constant fight and gained control of the South West.  Eventually , her son Henry II succeeded.  Getting back to Newbury Castle, it is mentioned in the "L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechal" (History of William the Marshall) which describes King Stephen as besieging the castle in 1152 and holding Marshal's son, William, as a hostage against Newbury's surrender. When the elder Marshal refused to comply, Stephen threatened to have the young boy catapulted over the walls. John responded defiantly, "I have the anvils and the hammer to forge still better sons." King Stephen relented and the boy survived.

We leave Hamsted Marshsall and follow the towpath of one of my favourite places, the Kennet & Avon Canal, which will shortly celebrate the 25th anniversary of it's re-opening.  

We encounter a Scarlet Tiger Moth

And finish off with a nice cup of tea and I make another new friend.