FEASTS THROUGH HISTORY: STOKESAY CASTLE, SHROPSHIRE
In the third of our four-part historic food series, curator of collections and interiors Cameron Moffett and senior properties curator Louise Bartlett reveal the story of the feast held in honour of the Bishop of Hereford’s visit in 1290
In April 1290, Richard Swinfield, the Bishop of Hereford, travelled to Shropshire on a visitation to parishes of his diocese. It was routine in the medieval period for important people to go on the road in order to keep in touch with their subjects, tenants or parishioners. The visiting VIP would be given the best accommodation available wherever they stayed, and feasts and religious services would take place to honour the occasion of their visit. Swinfield’s party visited Stokesay and it is very likely that he stayed with Laurence of Ludlow at his just-finished castle. Ludlow, the foremost wool merchant of the late 13th century, had done so well that he had recently diversified into lending money to the nobility and the ecclesiastical elite. He had town houses and offices in Ludlow, Shrewsbury and London, as well as being the lord of the manor at Stokesay.
THE MEDIEVAL BUILDINGS AT STOKESAY CASTLE
Ludlow had bought the manor of Stokesay in 1281, and is thought to have started building in around 1285. The buildings the visitor sees today were nearly all constructed in the late 1280s and early 1290s, representing a significant survival of one of the most complete fortified manor houses of this period. The timbers in the north tower, great hall and solar (pictured is a reconstruction drawing showing how the solar may have looked in the 17th century) have all been dated to the 1280s, and display the same carpenters’ marks, indicating that they were constructed at the same time. The timbers in the undercroft to the solar have been dated to the 1260s, but this space and the basement of the north tower are the only parts of the site to pre-date Ludlow’s building campaign.
THE MENU AND ITS MEANINGS
Few surviving documents describe feasts of this date, so the Bishop of Hereford’s Stokesay trip, recorded by his household chaplain, John de Kemesey, is a valuable record. De Kemesey’s account is principally a list of sums of money that the Bishop paid for food consumed during his stay, presumably much of it eaten at a feast.
De Kemesey’s list consists only of high-status food and drink. There were 63 pints of wine, imported from mainland Europe. There was a much larger volume of ale, for those lower down in the social rankings. But the largest sum was paid for bread. Such a large amount was probably required because it was frequently given out to parishioners after mass. A sum for alms is also included in the Bishop’s financial account.
THE MEDIEVAL BUILDINGS AT STOKESAY CASTLE
Ludlow had bought the manor of Stokesay in 1281, and is thought to have started building in around 1285. The buildings the visitor sees today were nearly all constructed in the late 1280s and early 1290s, representing a significant survival of one of the most complete fortified manor houses of this period. The timbers in the north tower, great hall and solar (pictured is a reconstruction drawing showing how the solar may have looked in the 17th century) have all been dated to the 1280s, and display the same carpenters’ marks, indicating that they were constructed at the same time. The timbers in the undercroft to the solar have been dated to the 1260s, but this space and the basement of the north tower are the only parts of the site to pre-date Ludlow’s building campaign.
TAKING STOCK
Here is the financial account of the Bishop of Hereford’s visit to Stokesay taken from J D La Touche’s 1878 book, Stokesay Castle, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, Series 1, Vol. 1:
1290, Stokesay, on Thursday at Stoke de Say, April 27
In bread 3s. 2d. 2 Sextaries of wine 2s. 8d. Ale 5s. Item 2 pig (or porker) already accounted for. Beef and pork 16d. 2 calves 22.d. 3 kids 10d. 2 pigs,10 capons, 5 fowls (a present). And out of them remains 1 pig. Bread 2d. Hay given by Master R. de Heyton. Item 2 quarters 5 bushels of oats for 35 horses, given by the Lord Abbot of Haughmond. Carriage of the hay 2d. Alms for several days 12d. Sum 16s. 2d.
What stands out in the menu is the amount of meat consumed. Only limited amounts of vegetables and fruit were eaten at that date. It was meat on the table that was an indicator of status in the medieval period, with the peasantry eating it only rarely, and then mainly in the run-up to winter when livestock was culled so that only the minimum number of animals had to be fed through the winter when feed was scarce.
FEASTING AT STOKESAY
The principle function of the great hall was as an eating space for the medieval household. There would have been a timber screen across the width of the hall, which would have provided protection from draughts, and acted as a division between the hall and the service areas. A door in the north wall leads to the north tower basement. This was probably the buttery, where ale and wine were stored in ‘butts’. Ludlow and his family would have entered the hall from the door at the south end. Their long table would have been located across the width of the hall. Further tables would stretch down the length of the hall towards the screen. Dishes were prepared in the kitchen and carried in by the servants to the tables.
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THE TABLE LAID
Though details of the feast such as the table setting were not within the scope of de Kemsey’s account, much is known about the elements of medieval feasting, and what it was expected to look like. There would probably have been a number of high-status accessories on the table: silver or silver-gilt serving dishes, even a silver goblet and wine glasses, but the guests would probably have eaten off plates of bread called trenchers which were then passed along, soaked with dripping and meat juices, to people further away from the high table.
THE POLITICS OF FEASTING
Paying for specific food items consumed in a feast was not unusual and, while on one level it was simply a generous gesture, it probably also relates to the politics that underpinned a feasting event. By providing a lavish supply of high-status food and drink, the host of a feast creates a bond between himself and the feast’s participants, in which they are indebted to him for accepting his offer of hospitality. The act of paying for food that would be consumed would off-set this debt and allow the visiting bishop to maintain the balance of power. But we can see within the list that some food items were given by the bishop as ‘a present’. Clearly, being a gracious guest required striking a balance between generous gift-giving to the host and paying enough of one’s bill to avoid incurring social debt.
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