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Melbourne Castle was an incomplete
medieval
castle , founded in 1311 by
Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster , in
Melbourne, Derbyshire . It was built on the site of an earlier royal
manor house that had provided accommodation for noblemen hunting in a nearby royal park in the reign of
King John . After the earl's execution in 1322 for opposing
Edward II , the castle was mainly in the possession of the
Crown or the
Earls and
Dukes of Lancaster . Improvements and repairs were made by
John of Gaunt and others, and the building was in generally good condition throughout the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.
John I, Duke of Bourbon , was kept at Melbourne for 19 years after his capture at the
Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and it was considered as a possible prison for
Mary Queen of Scots . The castle was in decline by the end of the reign of
Elizabeth I . It was purchased in 1604 by
Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon , who had
his own castle in nearby
Ashby-de-la-Zouch , and was gradually demolished for its building materials. All that remains is a short section of wall and some foundations. The ruins are
grade II listed and the site is a
scheduled monument , with no public access. (
Full article... )
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