01969 623 981
Facebook Instagram
£0.00 0

No products in the cart.

Return To Shop
Shopping cart (0)
Subtotal: £0.00

Checkout

MENUMENU
  • Home
  • Visitor Information
        • Visiting The Castle
          • Opening Times and Daily Activities
          • Admission Charges
          • Castle Shop
          • Dogs at Bolton Castle
          • Places to Stay
          • Access Statement
          • Children’s Activity Packs
          • Holiday Rental
          • Find us
        • Admission Information
          • Activity packs and guide books
          • Group Tours
          • Garden Tours
          • Book A Group Tour
          • Children’s Activity Packs
        • About The Castle
          • History
          • Gallery
          • Education
          • Volunteering at Bolton Castle
          • Location Shoots
  • Falconry Experiences
    • Falconry Experiences
    • Full Day Castle Experience
    • Half Day Falconry Experience
    • Owl Experience
  • The Gardens
    • Garden History
    • Garden Tours
    • The Dyer’s Garden
    • Mary Garden
    • Rose Garden and Rose Arbour
    • Herb Garden
    • Bowling Green
  • Tea Room
  • Events
  • News & Press
  • Weddings & Private Events
  • Contact

Return to previous page
Home The Plants

Fennel

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

Bronze Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare ‘purpureum’) 

 

Flowers: Early summer. Height: Up to 180cm (70in).

 

Fennel was cultivated by the ancient Romans for its aromatic fruits and succulent, edible shoots. It was a popular herb in the household of King Edward I of England with his account books from 1281 listing “a purchase of 8 1/2 pounds of fennel seed” (a month’s supply). On Church mandated ‘Fastying dayes’, the faithful used fennel to get through the day. They would bring handkerchiefs with fennel seed to nibble on during long services to stave off hunger.

 

Medicinal: Esteemed by many herbalists for its peculiarly strengthening effect on the sight due to its antioxidants, it was used to treat eye inflammation and failing eyesight. Pliny’s The Naturalis Historie (77AD), believed that fennel was so powerful that he used it to treat 22 different ailments observing also that serpents eat it “when they cast their old skins, and they sharpen their sight with the juice by rubbing against the plant”. The seeds were chewed to sweeten breath, help a toothache, and gargled to relieve sore throats. It was also used to treat colds, fevers, insanity, stomach and heart ailments, infant colic, body odour, and the leaves were chewed to help with digestive problems. When steeped into a tea it was believed that fennel was also a treatment for losing weight as it works as an appetite suppressant. Fennel was believed to be an effective antidote for poisonous mushrooms and snakebite and a plaster of fennel roots was a traditional treatment for the bites of mad dogs.

 

Culinary: Often used when cooking fish and to flavour salads and soups. Fennel seed was used as a condiment especially for salt fish, much consumed by our 17th century ancestors during Lent.

 

Magic & Myth: Fennel was hung over doorways and its seeds inserted into keyholes to protect a dwelling and its inhabitants from evil spirits and witches, particularly around Midsummer’s Eve when, during medieval times, evil spirits were thought to roam freely.

Eyebright
Feverfew

Comments are closed

What our visitors say about the castle

Visitor August 2024
Excellent visit!
What a fabulous place the castle has a lot to offer both variety of complete rooms and scale. The grounds were lovely (boar family!) and the falconry display was excellent - led brilliantly by the staff member. The staff were all friendly and helpful and topped off with a pot of tea from friendly tea room staff.
The Axcell family August 2024
I'd just like to pass on our thanks for a lovely visit yesterday. We had a fantastic day at the castle; the falconry display was fun and informative, the archery demonstration was fab, and nicely rounded off with the wild boar feeding at 16:00. Kelly was brilliant, but very special thanks to Dave who helped make the past come alive; Eleanor and Joseph had a day they will never forget thanks to the generosity of your time and enthusiasm (the parents too)! It's hands down the best visit we've ever had to a historic property and we'd recommend it to anyone. We're happy for you to post the review on the website if you wanted.
Thanks again, and we'll definitely come back again if we're in the area.
Yorkshire Dales Classic Car Club
From all of us at YDCCC a huge thank you for Sunday. Please thank all of the staff at the castle for being  very kind and extremely helpful. Everyone  who attended was very happy at the location for our picnic as you can imagine. It was also nice to see visitors having a look around the cars. Sadly with the arrival of the rain we had to leave in a hurry and did not get to thank the staff in person. So please pass on my thanks to all who helped to make our day a very special one. Look forward to visiting again in the future.
Mike Cowan
A visitor October 2024
Awesome cafe awesome castle
First things first! The Cornish Pasties here are made by a lady (81 years old - originally from Cornwall) - they are the best pasties I’ve ever tasted. You must try them! Secondly the castle is brilliant Lots to see and do. Dave and his wife that run the Mary Queen of Scot’s room and the archery are super friendly and knowledgeable. Dave was lovely with our boy. Both went above and beyond.
Mrs R
I just wanted to say my husband and I visited the Castle and thought it the most splendid place!   From the staff, Tea Room, signage information so well presented, but one of my main reasons for contacting you was to say that Kelly, one of your members of staff excelled herself.   We joined her for a bit of archery, managed to hit the board, my husband 86 and myself 77 didn’t do too badly!  Her rapport and information with the Birds of Prey was second to none, she obviously loves her job, she is truly an asset to the Castle, thank you. Please pass on this email to the relevant source, thank you.

Download the Bolton Castle app

Download our new audio App from Apple's App Store or Google Play Store and hear the stories of the castle brought alive. Our easy to navigate App is a fun way to find out about our turbulent history, our castle incumbents and their way of life through the ages. There's an audio tour for each room of the castle, so you can dip in and out as much as you wish, with voices from our Living History team who know and love the castle. Find out about Mary Queen of Scots' captivity, how Lord Scrope's army prepared for war, and how the servants made sure life included some luxuries as well as day to day chores to keep this home functioning, amongst other sneak peeks on life in a castle. It's time to immerse yourself in our history and find out more than you ever thought you needed to know!  Free with entry, the audio App lets you unlock the stories behind the castle walls.

Facebook Instagram Tripadvisor

Bolton Castle
Nr Leyburn
North Yorkshire
DL8 4ET

T: 01969 623981
E: info@boltoncastle.co.uk

School booking enquiries
E: dave@timetalks.org.uk

Bolton Castle

Sign up to our newsletter

Web design and branding Yorkshire by Feel Design

  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
0