Bygrave House

In the civil parish of Bygrave.
In the historic county of Hertfordshire (Modern Authority of Hertfordshire, 1974 county of Hertfordshire).

Moated work of considerable size licensed 1386 to Sir John Thornbury, possible castle. PastScape records as Medieval manorial complex and ?associated gardens. The lack of castle name might mean that this site was just a manor house, but it is a large and high status site so is unlikely not to have had some level of fortification, but the size and layout of the earthworks do not suggest serious fortification of castle like quality.

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Earthworks remains.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1386 Oct 31.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TL26573610

Modern Map from

Good for landscape form and features

Modern Map from

Good for general location

Air Photo from

1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 365543

Books

Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern) p43
Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p327
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p221
Renn, D.F., 1971, Medieval Castles in Hertfordshire (Chichester) p16
RCHME, 1910, An inventory of the historical monuments in Hertfordshire p75-6
Page, Wm (ed), 1912, VCH Hertfordshire Vol3 p215 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43606
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p419

Journal Articles

Andrews, H.C., 1908-11, Transactions of the East Hertfordshire Archaeological Society Vol4 p280-99

Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)

Calendar of Patent Rolls (1385-89) p235

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This record last updated on Friday, April 6, 2007

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