Wrinkles of Time

While on a work trip to the UK, the place where I was stationed had a story of a ruined castle, which had been ostensibly marked for destruction by an insouciant British Parliament, having no foresight nor care about the succeeding generations, often the case with political bodies.

Donnington Castle had been the family home of the Abberburys from the late 1200's, The manor of Donnington was held by the Abberbury family from 1287, and in 1386 Sir Richard Abberbury was granted a licence ‘to crenellate and fortify a castle at Donyngton, Berks’ by Richard II. Sir Richard had been a companion of Richard II’s father, Edward the Black Prince, at the battles of Crécy and Poitiers.

Several hundred years later, the nasty Parliament decided that maintenance of the castle was too much for the Isles to bear and ordered it destroyed. It didn't work.

In fact, the government spent so much in three attempts to burn it, that they finally gave up and left the gatehouse and the base of the walls as they are seen today, half buried in thick luxuriant grass and the fascination of a richly storied history. What's left stands just north of down town Newbury, guarded by a simple gate and the wishes of donors who keep the grounds and remaining structure as is.
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