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DEDDINGTON CASTLE

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The site of the earthworks of an 11th century motte and bailey castle, and the cropmark of a ditched enclosure to the east which contained four fishponds. To the south of this complex is an embanked enclosure called `the Fishers', which appears to be a stew associated with either the castle or Castle Manor. The earliest reference to the castle is 1204 when it was in royal hands. However, excavations have shown that it was built on a late Saxon site, fragmentary buildings and associated artefacts, especially St Neots wares, were present. At the time of the Domesday Book in 1087 the site was owned by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux (and commissioner of the Bayeux tapestry). His half brother was William the Conqueror, and after the Conquest in 1066 Deddington would have played a key role in the Norman control of the region. In its initial phase, the castle consisted of a motte and large bailey to the west. At this time, or shortly after, an L-shaped hall was constructed, and it is thought that this was built by Bishop Odo. While this was in use, an inner bailey was created. By circa 1200, a substantial curtain wall had been built with gatehouse into the outer bailey, the motte had been levelled, and a range of domestic buildings, including 12th and 13th century chapels, created. It was refurbished from the mid 12th century until the early decades of the 13th century, and then suffered a long period of decline. From the end of the 13th century it became a quarry for local building stone. Following the division of Deddington Manor into three estates in the reign of Richard I, the Castle Manor, including the site of the castle, its park and meadows, was sold to the canons of Windsor in 1364. The site is now in the care of English Heritage.

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(SP 471315) Castle (NR) (Site of) (NAT)
(SP 474311) The Fishers (NAT). (1)

Deddington. Rectangular ringwork with strong bailey enclosure (4). Excavation in 1947-8 (3) revealed a polygonal inner curtain wall of ironstone rubble with early 12th. century pottery in the foundation trench. A hall was built against the curtain wall c. 1160, of mortared rubble with ashlar quoins, below this were traces of a timber building. A solar was later added. A series of seven stratified floors was found in the kitchen beside the gatehouse. A mound east of the bailey contained the sloping plinth of a rectangular tower of fine ashlar. Sherds of pottery with pale green and orange glaze from the 11th. century (5), unrelated to the structures, were found on the site, and a coin of Offa 759-795 (see SP 43 SE 10, possibly the same coin) was said to have been found here c.1842. The castle was in royal hands in 1204-5 (4). To the south at SP 474311 are the remains of banks called 'The Fishers' evidently the remains of fishponds. (2-5)

The earthworks comprise an irregular castle mound/court with large bailey to the west and four associated fish ponds to the east contained within a ditched field. To the south is another large pond known as 'The Fishers' which is almost certainly associated. Excavation and subsequent infill and levelling of the inner court has reduced the earthworks there. The outer bailey now holds a sportsfield and play-ground but the general condition of the remaining earthworks is good. See 25" survey. (6)

Deddington Castle existed before 1100, its construction perhaps ordered by Odo of Bayeux soon after the Conquest (10). According to Cathcart King (11) an interruption in its line of defence marks the position of an original motte on the side of the bailey. The castle was strengthened in the early 12th century, probably by William de Chesney, but by 1277 it was in decay. Remains comprise a large outer enclosure, with a substantial bank, ditch, and polygonal inner bailey. Excavations in 1947-51 and 1976-9 (10a), revealed the remains of a 12th century chapel beneath a 13th century chapel east of the solar wing. Depressions within a large ditched enclosure to the east of the inner baily may have been fish ponds. South-east of the castle, "the Fishers", an embanked, partly ploughed out area, was probably a stew associated with the Castle or Castle Manor.

Deddington Castle under guardianship and scheduled. Banks of outer bailey, scheduled. (7-11)

Scheduled listing. (12)

The central ringwork of Deddington Castle was the venue for the practical element of Oxford Archaeological Survey Week from 2001 to 2005. The results of these student exercises cannot be regarded as conclusive but they do indicate that the ringwork was a regular rectangle, maybe a square, rather than the elongated kite-shape suggested by the interim excavation report plan (13-14). It also calls into question the 'true motte' postulated (13) at the eastern corner. The excavation trench for the chapel is clearly defined as are some other earthworks resulting from the 1970s excavations. (13-15)

A brief history and description. (16)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1955

( 2) edited by William Page 1907 The Victoria history of the County of Oxford: volume two

The Victoria history of the counties of England Page(s)324-5

( 3) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society Oxoniensia

11-12, 1946-7 Page(s)167-8

( 4) D F Renn 1968 Norman Castles in Britain

1968 Page(s)162-3

( 5) Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society

51, 1957 Page(s)52

( 6) Field Investigators Comments

F1 27/05/1971

( 7) General reference

Ashmolean Museum Report 1948 Page(s)9

( 8) General reference

Ashmolean Museum Report 1949 Page(s)11

( 9) by Department of the Environment, Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings London 1978 List of ancient monuments in England: Volume 1, Northern England; Volume 2, Southern England; Volume 3, East Anglia and the Midlands

3 Page(s)83

(10) edited by Alan Crossley 1983 A history of the county of Oxford, volume 11 : Wootton Hundred (northern part)

The Victoria history of the counties of England Page(s)90-91

(11) David J Cathcart King 1983 Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the Islands. Volume II : Norfolk-Yorkshire and the islands

Page(s)385

(12) Scheduled Monument Notification

01-AUG-1996

(13) Field Investigators Comments

MCB Bowden, AS&I, English Heritage, 2005

(14) Field Investigators Comments

Ivens, R 1983 South Midlands Archaeol 13. 34-41.

(15) Field Investigators Comments

Ivens, R 1984 Oxoniensia 49. 101-19.

(16) English Heritage 2005 Heritage Unlocked: London and the South East

Page(s)98-99

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