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An English woman's home...
Listen to Lady Saye reflecting on her family, her faith and living in the Fiennes family home with the Revd Ben Phillips.
BROUGHTON Castle near Banbury is a fortified manor house, surrounded by a wide moat and set in idyllic parkland. It was built by Sir John de Broughton in 1300 and in 1377 bought by William Wykeham, the then Bishop of Winchester and one of the most powerful men in medieval England. A subsequent Wykeham married into the Fiennes family, in whose hands the castle has remained ever since. The 21st Baron Saye and Sele and his wife have lived here for the past 41 years.
The castle is one of only 20 ‘five star’ houses in Simon Jenkins’s England’s Thousand Best Houses. St Mary’s, the parish church in the grounds, merits two stars in his England’s Thousand Best Churches. Jenkins calls it ‘an impressively ancestral church, darkly medieval, and a match in grandeur for the great house next door’.
Last year, Lord and Lady Saye’s youngest son, the writer William Fiennes, published a moving memoir about growing up in the house, and in particular about life with his much-loved brother Richard, who suffered from epilepsy and died in his 40s. The book, The Music Room (published by Picador) was shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award 2009 and the Duff Cooper Prize.
The castle has been used in a number of films, including The Madness of King George and Shakespeare in Love. The actors Joseph Fiennes (who starred in Shakespeare in Love) and his brother Ralph are cousins of the family, as is the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
Begin at the entrance to the castle grounds (1). If the castle is open, you can drive in and park behind the church as signed. If not, you can enjoy spectacular views from the public footpaths running through the park. In this case, leave your car in the lane near the entrance, or, if you are in search of refreshment, you may like to park at the Saye and Sele Arms (www.sayeandselearms.co.uk; 01295 263348).
Take the footpath over a stone stile just to the right of the lodge by the entrance to the grounds, and bear right straight up the hill. From the crest of the hill you can look down at the castle and the crenellated gatehouse (1405). The gatehouse and moat remind us that, however peaceful it looks today, the house is also a fortified castle.
The most dramatic episodes of the house’s history took place during the Civil War, when William Fiennes was an important figure in the struggle against King Charles I. When the castle is open you can visit the Council Chamber which was used in the 1630s for secret meetings. Fiennes and his friends called it “the room that hath no ears”. After the nearby Battle of Edgehill in 1642, the Royalists laid siege to Broughton Castle, capturing and occupying it. There are cannon balls in the Council Chamber thought to have been used in the siege.
At the top of the hill (2) by the clumps of trees you may like to pause and think about the struggle between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians. What can it have been like to have lived during the turbulent times of the Civil War? Pray for our political leaders today and the struggles they face. Think of those who are at war today, or whose lands are occupied.
Continue to the boundary fence and cross the stile (3), across the field towards the barn. Follow the path over another stile, keeping the barn on your right. Carry on along the hedge until you emerge into the lane (4). Turn left down the hill. Fulling Mill Farm (5) next to the Sor Brook feels timeless. Pause and think of all the people who have worked the land over the years since the castle was built. Pray for our farmers and food producers and the challenges they face.
Cross the stream, go through the gate and bear right up the track. Walk up the hill, keeping the woods on your left, until you reach the Shutford Road (6). At this point, retrace your steps. When the castle comes into view, pray for the family who live here today. Pray for your own home and all that happens there.
The parish church of St Mary, which dates almost entirely from the fourteenth century, lies within the castle grounds (although the castle also has its own tiny chapel). St Mary’s is particularly noted for the rare stone screen of about 1330 that separates the chancel from the nave, and also for its tombs.
Broughton Castle is 3 miles south west of Banbury close to the B4035. (From Banbury rail station, take the 50A Stagecoach bus to Broughton). Opening hours are limited: Easter Sunday and Monday; then from 1 May-15 September Wednesdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays (plus Thursdays in July and August). All 2-5 pm. St Mary’s Church is open to visitors when the castle is. Ring 01295 276070 or see www.broughtoncastle.com. Walk: approximately 3 miles.
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