page_title: Somerton Castle
section_title: Later history
hierarchical_section_title: Somerton Castle / Later history
caption_attribution_description: English: Somerton Castle, Boothby Graffoe, Lincolnshire
context_page_description: Somerton Castle is located approximately one mile west of the village of Boothby Graffoe in Lincolnshire, England and to the south of the city of Lincoln, England. The site is on low-lying land between the Lincoln Edge and the River Trent. Although Somerton Castle is in the parish of Boothby Graffoe, it is in the Manor of Waddington and this portion is often referred to as the Manor of Somerton Castle. Antony Bek probably built the castle in 1281 and he gave it to King Edward II in 1309. King John II of France was imprisoned at Somerton Castle between 1359 and 1360, having been taken prisoner after the Battle of Poitiers. It continued as crown property until it was sold by Charles I in 1628, since when the castle has continued in private ownership.
context_section_description: The Castle was transferred to the estates of the Duchy of Lancaster by Henry VII  and the Castle and its lands were held by De’Isney or Disney family. A Duchy of Lancaster Survey of 1601 described the castle as being utterly defaced and fallen almost downe to the ground, but one of the four towers was standing almost to its full height. The property was bought from the Charles I in 1628 by the Corporation of the City of London and it then passed to the Hussey family. 
  The print produced by Samuel Buck in 1726 is dedicated to Sir Henry Hussey, and this print shows the castle as in much the same state as described in 1601. Sir Henry left Somerton Castle to his aunt Jane Hatcher, who died in 1734 and it then passed to the Pochin family of Barkby in Leicestershire, who sold the castle to  Montague Cholmeley of Easton in 1780.
  The property and estate were bought from Sir Montague Cholmeley, 1st Baronet in 1812 by the Isaac Marfleet of Bassingham who had been previously leasing the castle; the property then  passed on to several of the family's descendants, until it passed to the Battersby family, who sold the castle and surrounding farmland in the mid-1970s.
  About 2010 the due to the deterioration of the fabric of the castle buildings, Somerton Castle was put on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk register. and the castle was purchased by Graham Porter and Mikey P.  Hoare, Ridge & Morris of Snape in Suffolk were commissioned as architects to draw up plans for the restoration of the castle. Planning consents were granted by North Kesteven District Council for additional building work, which included a new wing  extending to the northwards behind the south front and also the conversion of the 19th-century farm buildings into dwellings.
caption: Somerton Castle, Boothby Graffoe, Lincolnshire in 1973
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