page_title: Nunney Castle
section_title: 17th - 19th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Nunney Castle / History / 17th - 19th centuries
caption_attribution_description: English: Drawing of Nunney Castle, Somerset by a royalist officer in the English Civil War, Richard Symonds
context_page_description: Nunney Castle is a medieval castle at Nunney in the English county of Somerset. Built in the late 14th century by Sir John Delamare on the profits of his involvement in the Hundred Years War, the moated castle's architectural style, possibly influenced by the design of French castles, has provoked considerable academic debate. Remodelled during the late 16th century, Nunney Castle was damaged during the English Civil War and is now ruined.
  English Heritage maintains the site as a tourist attraction. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner has described Nunney as "aesthetically the most impressive castle in Somerset."
context_section_description: Nunney Castle continued to be owned by the Roman Catholic Prater family into the 17th century. In 1642 the English Civil War broke out between the rival factions of Parliament and the king; like many Catholics, Colonel Richard Prater supported Charles I. As the war progressed the Royalist situation deteriorated, however, and the south-west became one of the few remaining Royalist strongholds; Nunney Castle was garrisoned in anticipation of Parliamentary attack and took in a number of refugees, including many Catholics. 
  In September 1645 a Parliamentary army under the command of Lord Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell advanced into Somerset, taking Sherborne, Cary and Shepton Mallet before turning to Nunney. Two regiments of soldiers with cannons surrounded the castle on 18 September; when Richard Prater refused to surrender, the cannons opened fire on the north side of the castle, breaching the castle wall. Richard continued to resist, hoisting a flag with a Catholic crucifix on it above the castle to taunt the besiegers, but two days later the garrison surrendered.
  Due to the damage caused by the cannon, the castle escaped the slighting, or deliberate damaging, that occurred to many other castles at the end of the civil war. Nonetheless, Richard Prater was forbidden to return to the castle, despite his promises to support Parliament, and his son, George Prater, only recovered Nunney from its interim owners after Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660.
  The castle declined and was sold by the Praters to William Whitchurch around 1700. During the 18th century the building was still in a reasonable condition and in 1789 an order was received to make it ready to receive French prisoners, although it is unlikely that they ever arrived.
caption: Drawing of Nunney Castle, 1644
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