Night sky lights up above Hopton Castle

Here are the Northern Lights shining above Hopton Castle, near Craven Arms, on Saturday night.

Night sky lights up above Hopton Castle

I arrived at about 8pm - just in time for the start of the celestial show - and was grateful to the driver whose car headlights illuminated the medieval walls for me!

Hopton Castle was the scene of a massacre in 1644 during the English Civil War, when the Parliamentary garrison surrendered to Royalist forces after a three-week siege.

The 30 or so men inside the castle should have been treated honourably as prisoners of war, but instead they were put to death one by one.

This was regarded as such a shocking breach of the military code that the phrase ‘Hopton Quarter’ came to be used to describe any treacherous behaviour by opponents in war.

The garrison commander, Samuel More, was allowed to live, but that was only because he had a ransom value.

This is a wonderfully atmospheric place which has been secured for future generations thanks to the Hopton Castle Preservation Trust.

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