Castle Hymel, Fineshade

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Castle Hely; Humbel

In the civil parish of Duddington With Fineshade.
In the historic county of Northamptonshire (Modern Authority of Northamptonshire, 1974 county of Northamptonshire).

Remains of a ringwork and bailey. The only documentary evidence for it is that it was demolished circa 1200 to make way for the later Augustinian Fineshade Priory. An C18 description, borne out by air photos, shows it to have consisted of a ringwork with bailey on the West side, and possibly an annexe or extension to the North-East. The latter may be associated with either the later priory or post-Mediaeval country houses. The North-East rampart of the castle was sectioned in 1988.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Cropmarks/slight earthworks remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP972976

PastScape number; 1310159

Books

Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p76
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p316
RCHME, 1975, An inventory of the historical monuments in the County of Northampton. Vol1: North East Northamptonshire (HMSO) p38-9 plate 6
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
Downman, E.A., 1906, in Serjeantson, R.M., Ryland, W. and Adkins, D. (eds), VCH Northampton Vol2 p135-6
Bridges, John, 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northampshire (Oxford) Vol2 p307

Journal Articles

Youngs, S.M. et al, 1988 ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1987’, Medieval Archaeology Vol32 p264
Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p317

Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)

William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/huntseng.html#norts16]
Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p329
Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p22

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with this site.

¤¤¤¤¤

Castle Hymel, Fineshade

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP972976

Sources of information, references and further reading