6 Comments CherryPie on Feb 20th 2021
The chapel of St Leonard stands in the outer court. It was built as the parish church by Sir Thomas Hungerford between about 1370 and 1383. The small north chapel (dedicated to St Anne) was added in about 1400 to house his tomb.
It became the castle chapel in the 1440s and was further altered in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 19th century it was used to display the collection of armour and ‘curiosities’ of Colonel John Houlton, then the castle’s owner.
The interior is notable for its many Hungerford family monuments and its wall-paintings. The principal monuments are those of Sir Thomas and his second wife, Lady Joan, with their effigies, which still retain traces of original paintwork and are surrounded by fine later medieval wrought-iron railings; and the lavish 17th-century marble monument to Sir Edward Hungerford III and his wife, Lady Margaret.
Probably between 1658 and 1665, Lady Margaret transformed the north chapel into a shrine for this monument. She added new windows, chequered marble paving, elaborate wrought-iron gates, and an extraordinary scheme of wall- and ceiling paintings, representing a paradise copiously bedecked with Hungerford family heraldry.
The east end of the main chapel displays the remains of earlier wall-paintings, including a nearly life-sized depiction of St George, probably commissioned in the 1440s by Walter, 1st Lord Hungerford.
8 Comments CherryPie on Feb 19th 2021
Begun in the late 14th century, Farleigh Hungerford Castle was for 300 years the home of the Hungerfords, a family that after distinguished beginnings suffered a series of disasters and scandals – some of which took place within the castle walls. A ‘romantic ruin’ since the 1730s, it retains two of its corner towers, parts of its outer courtyard defences and a well-preserved chapel with outstanding 13th-century wall-paintings, family monuments and collection of unusual anthropoid (human-shaped) lead coffins.
12 Comments CherryPie on Feb 18th 2021
We enjoyed my 60th birthday meal so much we decided to repeat the menu for Valentine’s Day.
8 Comments CherryPie on Feb 15th 2021
