Barnwell Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Barnwell St Andrew

In the civil parish of Barnwell.
In the historic county of Northamptonshire (Modern Authority of Northamptonshire, 1974 county of Northamptonshire).

Built about 1266 by Berenger Le Moyne; some building work may have taken place within the castle during C16. Squared coursed limestone with ashlar dressings. Rectangular plan of the concentric type with round corner towers of 2 stages. Entrance front, to east, has gate-house, to far left of curtain wall, with flanking semi-circular towers. Triple-chamfered gatearch, with pointed head and polygonal responds. Semi-circular, single-chamfered, inner doorway. Inside, the gatehouse has a pointed tunnel vault and grooves for a portcullis. Large square-head window opening above gatearch. Flanking towers have cross slits at ground floor and rectangular openings to upper level. Similar corner tower to left. North-east tower, to far right, is a trefoil arrangement of round towers. Cross slits to upper and lower stages. Blank curtain walls, between towers, on north and south elevations. West elevation to rear of entrance front has semi-circular south-west corner tower, to right, with a 2-light stone mullion window to the upper stage. Trefoil arrangement of round towers at north-west corner, to left. Centre linking tower of this arrangement is a narrower quadrant. Both corner towers have cross slits. Section of curtain wall, between towers, to left of centre, has been rebuilt. To the left of this section of wall is a postern gate with 2-centred arch head. The courtyard elevations have been stripped of their facing stone in certain areas. Elevation to rear of gatehouse has small doorways with semi-circular heads, giving access to gatehouse towers. Originally there was a square-head window opening above central gatearch. Small doorway, with semi-circular head, to right, gives access to south-east tower. - Similar doorways, set on an angle in the corners, give access to the other towers from the courtyard. Evidence of a fireplace, to right of the postern gate, was possibly also part of the domestic accommodation within the castle walls. Evidence of cross wall in east elevation of courtyard with traces of plaster recorded, was possibly also part of the domestic accommodation within the castle walls. The curtain walls are approximately 3.6m thick with the exception of the section in the west elevation which was rebuilt, which is approximately 1m thick. Interior: gatehouse towers each have 2 bays of single-chamfered rib vaults to ground floor. A rectangular chamber over the gateway was originally accessible from a flight of steps immediately north of the inner gatearch. The upper rooms of the gatehouse towers have square-head windows with an inner pointed arch. In the south-east tower are the remains of a pointed rib vault to the ground floor. In the south-west tower a staircase, off the entrance passage, gives access to a square room above which has a 2-light stone mullion window and a fireplace. A further room over this chamber also had a fireplace and a window. In the north-east and north-west towers the centre towers of the trefoil arrangement contained the spiral-staircase. The north-east tower also has a garderobe chute. The towers and curtain walls were originally probably higher and would have had a castellated parapet. The building date of 1266 is derived from a Jury statement of 1276 which records that Berenger Le Moyne had built a castle 10 years earlier. The Rector of Barnwell also agreed in 1257 to there being a Chapel at Barnwell Castle. An inquiry discovered that no licence had been obtained to build the castle, and Berenger le Moyne had to return the Manor to the Abbotts of Ramsey who held it before 1120, and with whom it remained until the dissolution. It was then granted to Chief Justice Sir Edmund Montagu, In 1540 Leyland describes "the meane house of a farmer" in the castle. Camden writing in 1586 mentions the "little castle which now of late Sir Edmund Monacute hath of late repaired and beautified with new buildings". It is unclear whether this statement refers to C16 domestic buildings within the castle, of which there is suggested evidence, or the house now known as Barnwell Manor. The castle was probably used as a farmyard during C18 and C19 with access through the break in the west curtain wall (This is sometimes, inaccurately, suggested as a 'slighting'). Barnwell Castle passed from the Duke of Buccleuch's estate in 1913 and was sold in 1938 to Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. Remains of the walls and corner towers were excavated in 1980.

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

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TL04928521

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; 360991

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/141/barnwellcastle.htm
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p71
    Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p182
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p165-6 [plan]
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p315
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p184
    Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1961, Buildings of England: Northamptonshire (Penguin) p101
    Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p133-4
    Page, Wm (ed), 1930, VCH Northampton Vol3 p70-2
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p319-20
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p206
• Journal Articles
  • Coulson, C., 1994, 'Freedom to Crenellate by Licence - An Historiographical Revision' Nottingham Medieval Studies Vol38 p120
    Ardouy, M., 1993/4, ‘Excavations at Barnwell Castle, Northants, 1980' Northamptonshire Archaeology Vol25
    Giggins, B.L., 1986, ‘Barnwell Castle survey 1980–85' South Midlands Archaeology 16 p79–84
    1981, Northamptonshire Archaeology Vol16 p204
    Ardouy, M., 1981, ‘Barnwell Castle' Newsletter, CBA Group 9 Vol11 p19-20
    Youngs, S.M. and Clark, J., 1981, ‘Medieval Britain in 1980' Medieval Archaeology Vol25 p201
    Coulson, C., 1979, 'Structural Symbolism in Medieval Castle Architecture' Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol132 p84-5
    Hussey, C.,1959 Sept 17, Country Life p298-301
    Hussey, C.,1959 Sept 10, Country Life p238-41
    Markham, 1912, Associated Architectural Societies' reports and papers [Lincoln, York, Northampton, Bedford, Worcester, Leicester and Sheffield] Vol31 p525-38
    1890, The Builder Vol59 p407 [plan only]
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/huntseng.html#norts12]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p322
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p3