England · Still standing
Woodcroft Castle
Woodcroft Castle is a moated medieval castle in the parish of Etton, Cambridgeshire. The surviving medieval elements include the front range, a circular tower, and the gatehouse; the site also includes an 18th-century barn and stable range. The building is a private dwelling and is Grade II* listed.
First raised
1280
Its prime
1500
Today
Still standing
As it stood in 1500
What Woodcroft Castle looked like in its prime.
Low, rectangular two-storey stone front range with a central projecting arched gatehouse flanked on the left by a broad cylindrical tower; the right side continues as a low stone range with later single-storey annex. Walls are of pale ashlar stone with regular mullioned windows on both floors and narrow vertical slit openings near the parapet. The entrance faces across a planted approach and is surrounded by a surrounding moat and parkland; climbing vegetation frames the central doorway. At prime the fabric is complete and roofed.
Its story
The story of Woodcroft Castle.
Woodcroft Castle is a moated medieval castle in the parish of Etton, Cambridgeshire. Its surviving medieval elements include the front range, a circular tower and the gatehouse, joined on the site by an 18th-century barn and stable range.
The castle's moment in national history came in the Second English Civil War. It belonged to William FitzWilliam, 2nd Baron FitzWilliam, a Parliamentarian supporter, but was briefly held by Royalists: their commander Michael Hudson, cornered by Parliamentarian forces under Colonel Thomas Waite after attempting to raise men for the King in Stamford, took refuge here. The castle was attacked and taken by Parliamentarian forces in June 1648. It remains a private dwelling, Grade II* listed.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1500.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Woodcroft Castle, including 2 interiors: gatehouse entrance passage, top of the main tower (roof/upper platform). Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Clans who held Woodcroft Castle.
The families that held Woodcroft Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
FitzWilliam
Owned by William FitzWilliam, 2nd Baron FitzWilliam, at the time of the 1648 siege.
From the archive
Woodcroft Castle on paper: the measured plan and period views.
The survey plan and photographs below are the ground truth this page's reconstructions are checked against, drawn and photographed while the castle was still a working garrison. Every image is public-domain or openly licensed, with its source named.
WOODCROFT
1897 · J. D. Mackenzie, The Castles of England, vol. 1 (1897)
Public domain
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