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Burwell Castle
In the civil parish of Burwell.
In the historic county of Cambridgeshire (Modern Authority of Cambridgeshire, 1974 county of Cambridgeshire).
Large, low platform with a very small motte in its centre. This is a complex site which originated on a roman site. Part of a raised platform on which there was a village was appropriated by King Stephen's forces in 1143-4 and a motte castle was started. This castles does not seem to have been finished and may have been attacked during construction. The site continued as an, unfortified, manorial site and a private chapel was added in 1246. The castle is thought to have formed part of a chain of defences constructed by King Stephen's forces in 1143-4. It is of unusual design, formed by the excavation of a broad flat bottomed moat to leave a rectangular island 35m by 60m across. The bulk of the material from the moat forms two large mounds flanking the outer edges of the north and western arms. The northern mound overlies the southern parts of three rectangular enclosures within a line of four or five such features defined by shallow banks and ditches. These are interpreted as the curtilages of medieval houses, part of a settlement abandoned when this relatively elevated position was appropiated for the castle.
This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
The confidence
that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Earthworks remains.
This site is a scheduled
monument protected by law.
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TL58756605
PastScape number;
374655
Books
- Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern) p16
Taylor, Alison, 1986, Castles of Cambridgeshire (Cambridge)
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p11
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p39
Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p197
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
RCHME, 1972, An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Cambridgeshire. Vol2: north-east Cambridgeshire p40-2
Phillips, 1948, in Salzman, L.F. (ed), VCH Cambridge and the Isle of Ely Vol2 p19-20
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Allcroft, A. Hadrian, 1908, Earthwork of England (London) p441-2
Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p309
Journal Articles
- Phillips, 1936, Antiquity Vol10 p465-8
Lethbridge, T.C., 1936, 'Excavations at Burwell Castle, Cambridgeshire' Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society Vol36 p121-33
Hughes, 1908-14, Cambridge and Huntingdon Archaeological Society Vol3 p291-3 [history, unimportant]
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
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