Editing Stokesay Castle (section)

===13th–15th centuries===
[[File:Stokesay Castle from the west.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|The castle viewed from the west, with the south tower to the right]]
[[Stokesay]] took its name from the Anglo-Saxon word ''stoches'', meaning cattle farm, and the surname of the de Says family, who had held the land from the beginning of the 12th century onwards.<ref>{{harvnb|Summerson|2012|p=25}}</ref> Stokesay was originally owned by the de Lacy family, who had built the first Ludlow Castle within their manor of Stanton Lacy. In Domesday Book, ''Roger de Laci'' is recorded as holding ''Stoches'' of the King in [[capite]].<ref>Eyton's Antiquities of Shropshire, Vol. V, MDCCCLVII, [https://archive.org/details/antiquitiesshro09eytogoog/page/n44 page 29].</ref> The manor was later held under the de Lacys by members of the de Say family, whose name attached to 'Stoke' created the name - Stokesay - by which it is still known today. In 1241, the then lord of Stokesay, [[Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath|Walter de Lacy]], Lord of Meath, died. His son Gilbert had predeceased him, so his extensive estates were divided among Walter's granddaughters. One of these, Margery, had married Sir John de Verdun of [[Alton Castle]] in Staffordshire, son of the heiress [[Roesia de Verdun]] and [[Theobald le Botiller, 2nd Chief Butler of Ireland|Theobald le Botiller]]. Margery's share of her grandfather's estates included Stokesay and a moiety of nearby Ludlow, which thereafter were held by the de Verduns. On 1 September 1270, to raise money to pay for going on the [[Eighth Crusade]] with [[Edward I of England|Prince Edward]], John de Verdun conveyed a tenancy of his manor of Stokesay to Philip de Whichecote for a term of 3 years,<ref>{{harvnb|Summerson|2012|p=25}}; {{harvnb|La Touche|1899|p=301}}</ref> which was later extended for the term of Philip's life, when it would revert to John de Verdun.<ref>Eyton's Antiquities of Shropshire, Vol. V, MDCCCLVII, [https://archive.org/details/antiquitiesshro09eytogoog/page/n50 page 35].</ref> However, John died in 1274 and Stokesay was inherited by his son Theobald I de Verdun.<ref>{{harvnb|La Touche|1899|p=301}}</ref> The [[Inquisition post mortem|Inquisition Post Mortem]] following John's death revealed that the de Verduns' [[feoffee]] at Stokesay at the time was Reginald de Grey. In the feodaries of 1284, Laurence de Ludlow is said to ''hold the Vill of Stokesay for one knight's-fee under John de Grey, which John held it under Theobald de Verdun, who held of the King''.<ref>Eyton's Antiquities of Shropshire, Vol. V, MDCCCLVII, https://archive.org/details/antiquitiesshro09eytogoog/page/n50 https://archive.org/details/antiquitiesshro09eytogoog/page/n50 pages 34-37.</ref> Stokesay Castle was largely built in its present form during the 1280s and 1290s in the village of Stokesay by Laurence de Ludlow, who was a very wealthy wool merchant.<ref>{{harvnb|Summerson|2012|pp=25–27}}</ref>

By chance there may have been earlier connections between Laurence de Ludlow and the de Verduns, which may add to the context within which he became their tenant. Laurence de Ludlow's wife was Agnes de Audley, daughter of [[James Audley (died 1272)|James de Audley]], Justiciar of Ireland and Sheriff of Staffordshire and Shropshire. James de Audley's family had been tenants and close associates of the de Verdons of Alton. James's father, [[Henry de Audley]] was the son of Adam de Audley and Emma, daughter of Ralph/Radulphus fitzOrm whose niece Alina, daughter of Robert fitzOrm, had married Engenulph de Gresley, one of the de Stafford family whose great-grandfather was [[Robert de Stafford]].<ref>Assize Rolls, 12 H. III. (p. 50, Vol. IV, Staff. Hist. Coll.), see [https://archive.org/stream/newcollectionsfo12stafuoft#page/8/mode/2up p.8 Walter Chetwynd's History of Pirehill Hundred], published in 'Collections for a History of Staffordshire', Vol. XXII New Series (1909)</ref> Engenulph and Alina's daughter Hawise de Gresley was Henry de Audley's 2nd cousin; she had married Henry de Verdun, son of [[Bertram de Verdun|Bertram III de Verdun]]. This means that Laurence de Ludlow was related by marriage to cousins of his feudal lord Theobald de Verdun. Laurence's mother-in-law Ela de Audley was the daughter of William II Longespée, whose father [[William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury|William I Longespée]], Earl of Salisbury was the illegitimate son of [[King Henry II of England|Henry II]] by [[Ida de Tosny]], who became the wife of Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk. John de Verdun's grandfather, Nicholas de Verdun had been brought up at the court of Ida and [[Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk|Roger Bigod]].

Laurence bought the tenancy of Stokesay from Philip de Whichecote in 1281, possibly for around £266, which he could easily have afforded, as he had made a fortune from the wool trade.<ref>{{harvnb|Summerson|2012|pp=25–26}}; {{harvnb|La Touche|1899|p=301}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|It is impossible to accurately compare 13th-century and modern prices or incomes. For comparison, the average income for a baron of the period was £668 a year.<ref name=PoundsP148>{{harvnb|Pounds|1994|p=147}}</ref>|group="nb"}} Laurence exported wool from the [[Welsh Marches]], travelling across Europe to negotiate sales, and maintaining offices in Shrewsbury and London.<ref>{{harvnb|Summerson|2012|pp=26–27}}</ref> He had become the most important wool merchant in England, helping to set government trade policies and lending money to the major nobility.<ref>{{harvnb|Summerson|2012|pp=26, 28}}</ref> Stokesay Castle would form a secure personal home for Laurence, well-positioned close to his other business operations in the region.<ref name=SummersonPP26EH>{{harvnb|Summerson|2012|pp=26, 28}}; {{cite web | url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/stokesay-castle/history-and-research/history/ | title=History of Stokesay Castle | mode = cs2|access-date=28 December 2013 |publisher=English Heritage}}</ref> It was also intended to be used as a commercial estate, as it was worth around £26 a year, with {{convert|120|acres}} of agricultural land, {{convert|6|acres}} of meadows, an expanse of woodland, along with [[watermill]]s and a [[dovecote|dovecot]].<ref name=SummersonPP26EH/>

Work began on the castle at some point after 1285, and Laurence moved into his new property in the early 1290s.<ref>{{harvnb|Summerson|2012|p=26}}</ref> The castle was, as Nigel Pounds describes it, "both pretentious and comfortable", initially comprising living accommodation and a tower to the north.<ref>{{harvnb|Pounds|1994|p=105}}</ref> In 1291 Laurence received permission from the King to fortify his castle - a document called a [[licence to crenellate]] - and he may have used this authority to construct the southern tower, which had a particularly martial appearance and was added onto the castle shortly afterwards.<ref>{{harvnb|Summerson|2012|p=26}}; {{harvnb|Pounds|1994|p=279}}; {{harvnb|Cordingley|1963|p=93}}</ref>

In November 1294 Laurence was drowned at sea off the south of England, and his son, William, may have finished some of the final work on Stokesay.<ref>{{harvnb|Summerson|2012|p=28}}; {{cite web | url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/stokesay-castle/history-and-research/history/ | title=History of Stokesay Castle | mode = cs2|access-date=28 December 2013 |publisher=English Heritage}}</ref> His descendants, who took the Ludlow surname, continued to control Stokesay Castle until the end of the 15th century, when it passed into the Vernon family by marriage.<ref>{{harvnb|Summerson|2012|p=29}}</ref>

It appears that in 1317, Stokesay was still being held by the Ludlows under the de Verduns. This is shown by the Inquest Post Mortem of [[Theobald de Verdun, 2nd Baron Verdun|Theobald II de Verdun]] (son of Theobald I de Verdun), taken in March of that year, which ''gives the Heirs of Sir William de Lodlowe as holding of the deceased a knight's-fee in Southstoke'' ('north Stoke' was one of the de Verdun's other manors in Shropshire, Stoke-on-Tern).<ref>Eyton's Antiquities of Shropshire, Volume V, [https://archive.org/details/antiquitiesshro09eytogoog/page/n54 page 37]</ref> It was only sometime after this date that Stokesay finally passed entirely into the possession of the Ludlow family.