|
On Sunday morning, after
breakfast, the hiking club's AGM and a round of applause for those who have
kept the club in a sound financial and organisational state, we cleaned up
and headed off home. A number of folk had planned a visit to Croft Castle
some 7km north-west of Leominster, in Herefordshire. The castle has been the
Norman home of the Croft family since Domesday in the 11th century i.e. for
1000 years. Owned by the National Trust though descendants of the Croft
family still live on the grounds to this day, it is a
stone quadrangular manor house, built close to the site of the old medieval
castle. At each corner of the high curtain wall, is a small
castellated round tower, with a small square tower flanking the north side.
Originally, a larger
stone castle was built to replace the earth and timber castle around 1400
AD.
In 1461, the medieval castle and Wigmore Castle, five miles north-west,
played a part in the nearby battle of Mortimer's Cross fought on 2nd
February after Sir
Richard Croft set forth from the castle with his soldiers towards the
battleground
at Wigmore, Herefordshire.
The battle formed part of the War of the Roses, fought
between the houses of Lancaster and York (the "red" and the "white" rose,
respectively).
The Croft family were closely linked to their neighbours the Mortimers of
Wigmore and later Ludlow. A descendant of Sir Richard fought for King
Charles at Stokesay in the 1640's during the English civil war and,
following the eventual Royalist defeat, Croft Castle was slighted to render
it incapable of further military service. Restoration took place later in
the 17th century when the castle was converted into a mansion but the Croft
family sold the castle in 1746 due to financial pressures. The castle was
then further remodelled in the Gothic style by Richard Knight, the son of a
mine owner from Shropshire. The Crofts repurchased their ancestral home in
1923. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
The castle and 13th century St
Michaels church adjacent, lie in 1500 acres of glorious Herefordshire
countryside. Inside the church is the fine altar tomb of Sir Richard Croft
(1430-1509), high official to four monarchs and his wife born Eleanor
Cornewall, before her remarriage the widow of Sir Hugh Mortimer, killed in
action at the Battle of Wakefield, a major battle of the war of the Roses.
The estate is noted for its veteran trees, particularly its avenues of
Spanish Chestnut trees, oaks and beech trees and is one of the most
important sites in North West Europe for veteran trees and dead wood
invertebrates. Some
members of the Croft family over the centuries include:
- Sir Richard
Croft (1429/30-1509), royal official for Kings Edward IV, Edward
V, Richard III, and Henry VII
- Thomas Croft
(c.1435-1488), shipowner and patron of Atlantic exploration
- Sir
James Croft (c.1518-1590), lord
deputy of Ireland and leading conspirator in Wyatt's Rebellion
- Herbert Croft
(1603-1691), bishop of Hereford, chaplain to King Charles I and
dean of the chapels Royal to Charles II
- William Croft
(c.1678-1727), organist and composer
- Sir Herbert
Croft (1751-1816), writer and lexicographer
- Sir Richard
Croft (1762-1818), physician and man-midwife
- Sir Henry Page
Croft (1881-1947), 1st Baron Croft, soldier and politician,
Under-Secretary of State for War 1940-1945
- Sir James
Herbert Croft (1907-1941), who died on active service with No 1
Commando
Gordon and I did a quick
guided tour of the castle with Peter Mathews and Julie Hastings conducted by
an entertaining, knowledgeable gentleman of Indian origin with a wonderful
turn of phrase and sense of humour. This was followed by lunch. The castle
opened around midday and so we were able to explore the upper rooms as well.
The story of Sir Richard Croft, physician to the British Royal Family, is an
interesting yet tragic one, as related to us by our guide. Sir Richard
became obstetrician to Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales the only child of
George, Prince of Wales (later George IV) and Caroline
of Brunswick, who became famous due to his role in "the triple
obstetrical tragedy" of 1817. Charlotte's parents disliked each other from
before their pre-arranged marriage and soon separated. Prince George left
most of Charlotte's care to governesses and servants, but only allowed her
limited contact with Princess Caroline, who eventually left the country. As
Charlotte grew to adulthood, her father pressured her to marry William,
Hereditary Prince of Orange, but after initially
accepting him, Charlotte soon broke off the match. This resulted in an
extended contest of wills between her and her father, and finally the Prince
of Wales permitted her to marry Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (later
Leopold I of Belgium). Had she outlived her father and her
grandfather, King George III (on whom the movie "The Madness of King George"
is based), she would have become Queen of the United Kingdom. Instead, she
died following childbirth at the age of 21, after a year and a half of happy
marriage. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
Charlotte's death set off
tremendous mourning in the country, which had seen her as a sign of hope and
a contrast to her mad grandfather and unpopular father. As she had been King
George III's only legitimate grandchild, there was pressure on the King's
unwed sons to marry. King George III's fourth son, Edward Duke of Kent,
fathered the eventual heir, Queen Victoria. As a result, history in Europe
might have dealt an entirely different hand of cards.
When Princess
Charlotte conceived in February 1817, Croft was chosen to attend
her. Following medical dogma, Croft restricted her diet and bled her
during the pregnancy. Her membranes broke 42 weeks after her last
period on 3rd November 1817. Her bedroom at
Claremont in Surrey was chosen as the labour and delivery room. The
first stage of labour lasted 26 hours. At the beginning of the
second stage of labour, Croft sent for Dr. John Sims, who arrived 7
hours later. The second stage of labour lasted 24 hours. He had
correctly diagnosed a transverse lie of the baby during labour;
however, forceps were not used as they
had fallen into disfavour in the British medical community. A
caesarian section at that time would have
resulted in the princess's death. Eventually, Princess Charlotte
delivered a stillborn 9-pound male. Five hours later she died,
presumably from concealed inner bleeding.
Although the
princess's husband and father sent messages to thank Croft for his
care and attention, Croft was distraught over the outcome. The king
ordered a necropsy (post-mortem), with the result that Sir Everard
Home, 1st Baronet and Sir David Dundas, 1st Baronet, reported that
everything had been done for the best. However, the tragic death of
the Princess continued to weigh heavily on Croft, and on 13th
February, 1818 at age 56, Croft died of a self-inflected gunshot
wound. Near his body a copy of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost
was found open with the passage (Act V, Scene II): "Fair Sir, God
save you! Where is the Princess?"
Charlotte's
pregnancy is known in medical history as “the triple obstetrical
tragedy”.
Both Sir Richard
and his wife are buried at St James's Church, Piccadilly.
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
