Bampton Ham Court

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Bampton Castle

In the civil parish of Bampton.
In the historic county of Oxfordshire (Modern Authority of Oxfordshire, 1974 county of Oxfordshire).

The gatehouse and curtain wall of an early C14 castle built for Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, who obtained a licence to crenellate in 1315. The castle was adapted into a dwelling in C17, and was extended in C18 and C19. A documentary source of C17 describes the castle as being quadrangular in plan and moated, with towers at the corners and gatehouses to the east and west, and possibly to the north and south. The west gatehouse and the lodging range adjoining it to the north were converted into a farmhouse before 1660 and the remainder of the castle was subsequently demolished. The upper floor of the gatehouse was dismantled some time before 1821, leaving a two storey structure. The farmhouse was extended before 1876 by the addition of a two storey extension to the south, behind the curtain wall. The early C14 castle may have succeeded an earlier house on the site, built circa 1256.

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

listed building

Images of England

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP30960306

PastScape number; 334520

Books

Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p55-8
Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern) p63
Crossley, Alan (ed), 1996, 'Bampton and Weald: Manors and castle', A History of the County of Oxford: Vol13 p23-5 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=15915
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p203
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p385
Pevsner, N. and Sherwood, J., 1974, The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire (London) p433
Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p28
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Potts, W., 1907, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Oxfordshire Vol2 p331
Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p149-50
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p407
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1853, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol2 p260

Journal Articles

Blair, J., 1988, ‘The Bampton research project: second report, 1986–8' South Midlands Archaeology 18 p89–93
Youngs, S.M. et al, 1988 ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1987' Medieval Archaeology Vol32 p268-9
1946 July 19, Country Life p120-1

Guidebooks

Blair, J., 1988, Bampton Castle. (Oxford: J. Blair)

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 (1313-17) p278

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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Bampton Ham Court

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP30960306

Sources of information, references and further reading