be surrendered to William de Fors, the Count of Aumale. The count established a power base in the region, but in 1218 William Marshal, the regent, ordered him to return it to the Crown; the count declined. Further demands followed until, in 1220, royal forces besieged and took the count's castle at nearby Rockingham. In a face-saving solution, the count finally returned Sauvey to the King, supposedly of his own free will, in exchange for the cancellation of any debts that he might have owed to the Crown. The castle was occupied by royal foresters during the 13th century, usually the keepers of Leighfield, and the castle carried with it the rights to the neighbouring manor of Withcote. In the mid-13th century, the castle carried a small "farm" - an annual fee owed to the Crown by its holder - of £3. In the 1240s Henry III ordered the sheriff of Leicester to build a timber chapel in Sauvey Castle, using wood from Rockingham Forest and reusing stones from a collapsed stable. After 1246, the castle declined in importance, although during the instability and revolts of 1258, Henry III ordered Sauvey to be used as the shrieval, or sheriff's, castle for the counties of Leicestershire and Warwickshire, which lacked their own shrieval castles. In 1289, the keeper of Rockingham Forest removed stonework and lead from the property, for reuse at Rockingham Castle. The castle was last referred to in active use in 1316, after which it was probably allowed to decay; further stonework was taken by the keeper of Rockingham Forest in 1373, by which time the castle had probably been abandoned. By the 15th century, Sauvey formed a subsidiary property of Withcote manor - a reversal of the old land holding pattern. Its structures had mostly been dismantled or destroyed by 1622 and had gone entirely by the end of the century. The site is protected under UK law as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It remains in a good condition and Historic England regard the castle's earthworks and moat design as distinctive, with "few parallels nationally". Notes References Bibliography Castles in Leicestershire Scheduled monuments in Leicestershire