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B R O U G H T O N C A S T L E
O x F O R D S H I R E , E N G L A N D
T h e 2 0 t h L o r d S a y e a n d S e l e , D . L .
Some British monarchs had good cause to wish William the Conqueror had
left this warlike family of pre-Norman Conquest barons from Sai in Normandy
behind: Baron William de Saye led a rebellion against King Stephen of England
in 1144, and Geoffrey de Saye was one of the 25 barons who signed the Magna
Carta, forcing King John to accept that historic charter of 1215. Centuries later
it was Lord Saye and Sele who initiated Cromwell’s parliamentary plans with
clandestine meetings at this moated Broughton Castle. It was in 1451 that a
previous Lord Saye, “being a prisoner in the Tower, was dragged by a riotous
multitude from thence to Cheapside and there beheaded.” A sterling loyalty to
the Crown distinguished other generations, with commanders of Royal armies
and of Royal households, Admirals of the Fleet from the 14th century, and a
Lord treasurer of England in 1449. Right up until this present day the tradition
continues, with the twentieth and present Baron having won awards for gallantry
in action in the last war that rival those of his ancestors. The haunting interiors
of Broughton Castle bear out its historic past.
