Nunney Castle Nunney Castle is a castle in Nunney , Somerset , England . Built in the late 14th century by Sir John Delamare on the profits of his involvement in the Hundred Years War , the moat ed 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 maintain the site as a tourist attraction . The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner has described Nunney as " aesthetically the most impressive castle in Somerset . " History . 14th century . Nunney Castle was built near the village of Nunney in Somerset by Sir John Delamare . Delamare had been a soldier during the Hundred Years War with France , where he had made his fortune . He obtained a licence to crenellate from Edward III to build a castle on the site of his existing , unfortified manor house in 1373 and set about developing a new , substantial fortification . The resulting castle centred on a stone tower - keep , measuring 60 feet by 24 feet ( 18 m by 7 m ) internally and 54 feet ( 16 m ) tall , designed with four , round corner - towers . The tower - keep had eight - foot ( 2 . 4 m ) thick walls made from Lias Oolite ashlar stone and was designed around three floors . The corner towers had conical roofs and prominent machicolation s . The ground floor of the tower - house included the kitchen and other service areas . The functions of the first and second floors are uncertain ; one theory is that the first floor was another service area , with the hall on the second floor ; another approach argues that the first floor formed the hall , and the second floor living accommodation ; a minority view proposes that the first floor was an armoury . The third floor was used as living accommodation for the owning family . The original design had a number of windows and fireplaces on the upper floors , but the hall would have been relatively dark and the stairs were inconveniently narrow . The tower - keep had a modest entrance , which was reached by a draw - bridge that lay across the surrounding moat which initially reached right up to the base of the castle . A simple , 12 - foot ( 3 . 6 m ) high bailey wall , with minimal defensive value , surrounded the moat , which was in contrast wide , 10 - foot ( 3 m ) deep , and would have been difficult for an attacker to drain . On the east side of the castle Nunney Brook was used as a line of defence rather than a bailey wall . Historians , such as Adrian Pettifer and Stuart Rigold , previously believed that the design of Nunney was heavily influenced by the French castle designs that Delamare would have seen on his military campaigns . Nunney closely resembles the Bastille in Paris , for example , and the machicolation s are typical of those found in French castles . Nunney was considered a conservative , even slightly backward design and probably built to protect against French invasion . Historians such as Robert Liddiard and Matthew Johnson are now less certain . Nunney is regarded as a bold , striking design , similar in many ways to those at Herstmonceux or Saltwood Castle . Whilst Nunney does resemble many French castles , there is no direct evidence that it was built in imitation of these designs , and indeed there are other English castles , such as Mulgrave and Dudley , that have a similar structure to Nunney ' s . Nunney Castle may be better understood instead as characteristic of a wider range of tower - keeps built in England during the period , designed , as Nigel Pounds puts it , " to allow very rich men to live in luxury and splendour . " 15th - 16th centuries . Nunney Castle was inherited by John ' s son , Philip Delamere , and grandson , Elias , before passing by marriage into the Poulet family following Elias ' probable death during Henry V ' s campaigns in France . Sir John Poulet and his son John , and grandson , also called John , held the castle during most of the 15th century , but their primary residence was Basing House rather than Nunney . William Paulet , the Marquess of Winchester , was the final member of the family to own the castle ; after his death in 1572 it passed rapidly through several owners and in 1577 was sold by Swithun Thorpe to John Parker , who only kept it for a year before selling it to Richard Prater , at a cost of £2 , 000 . The castle was redeveloped in the second half of the 16th century , probably by the Praters : the windows were enlarged to let in more light ; a grand staircase was built in one of the towers ; a Catholic altar was installed , and a revetment , or terrace , was built around the inside of the moat , leaving it 25 feet ( 7 . 6 m ) wide . 17th - 19th centuries . 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 make it ready to receive French prisoners , although it is unlikely they ever arrived . 20th - 21st centuries . By the 20th century , Nunney Castle was increasingly ruined and covered in thick ivy ; as a result , on 25 December 1910 a portion of the damaged north wall entirely collapsed — most of the fallen stone was stolen by local people . With the fabric of the castle under threat , in 1926 the owner , Robert Bailey - Neale , transferred the property to the Commissioner of Works who began a programme of restoration work . The castle is now run by English Heritage as a tourist attraction and is a scheduled monument . The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner has described the castle as " aesthetically the most impressive castle in Somerset . "