Torksey Castle

Torksey Castle is a manor house / hall, located in the village of Torksey, Lincolnshire. Built in the 16th century on the banks of the river Trent. At present the building is on the Buildings at Risk Register.

The Tudor hall was built by the Jermyn family of Suffolk, it is thought to have been a gift to an elder son, but only lasted for about 100 years until the civil war. It is not known why the Hall was built so close to the river even though it was constructed on the medieavl bank, which was not as close to the river as it is today. Sadly the Hall is prone to flooding as it is on the wrong side of the modern flood bank.

In 1645, it was taken from the Royalist Jermyn family by Parliamentarians, but then it was burned by Royalist soldiers based at Newark sixteen miles away, so it did not remain in Roundhead hands. Two hundred soldiers surprised the garrison at Torksey who had taken to heavy drinking, as their Captain was away in Lincoln. 140 men were taken prisoner while the Hall burned. Very little of the structure survived, just the the west front and part of the kitchen. Because of this 'battle', the Hall may have gained the status of a castle.

The 'Castle' was never rebuilt, the head of the Jermyn family had died, the land then sold. For the next 300 years the land passed into many hands and the Hall was mined for stone and building materials.

The English Heritage undertook the stabilisation of the building in the 1990s. Today it sits surrounded by nettles in summer or water in winter.