Day 22: Following our trip to the Tithe Barn at Bradford on Avon we travelled only a couple of miles further to Farleigh Castle. It was $8.10 each to enter with an audio tour included. We are so glad we decided to do it!

The castle is a ruin with different areas excavated and without the audio tour we really wouldn’t have been able to work out what was what!

Grimple and Grundle took up their positions in the castle wall to protect us while we did the tour …

… and Dave practised his bow skills in case of attack 😀

The picture below is of the Lady Tower where the wife of one of the Hungerfords, owners of the castle, was incarcerated for something like 3 years. They weren’t very nice people at times.

The photo below is looking from the kitchen area towards the Lady Tower from within the castle walls.

A gruesome tale was told about a married woman of the household who set her sights on marrying Earl Hungerford so she plotted, with 2 henchmen, to kill her husband and make herself available. Their dastardly deed was successful so to dispose of the body they put him in the big kitchen fire and burnt him up. 😱 She then married the Earl and had his protection although it was quite well known by the household what she’d done. When he died the truth came out and the lady and her henchmen were hanged at Tyburn! (Serves her right!)

The mausoleum holds the tombs of some generations of Hungerfords. Some of the tombs were very ornate and you can see ancient motifs on the walls.

When restoration work was undertaken wall murals were uncovered, this one of St George killing the dragon.

It is believed that many churches were decorated with pictures of the saints but these were covered up during the Reformation when Henry VIII banned Catholicism. This one of St George is an important and fairly rare find.

Unfortunately the Hungerfords lost ownership of the castle in 1686 when it had to be sold to cover the debts of Edward the Spendthrift. (These names really make me laugh😆) It then had several owners before passing to the state in 1915.

The visit to Farleigh Castle was the ‘icing on the cake’ of a busy, history focused day. I’ve only skimmed the surface of the information about the Hungerfords and the castle. If you’re interested to find out more Click Here

Day 23 we’re going to Warminster with some little side detours. Let’s see how the day unfolds 🙂