More information : [SP 96106880] Castle [GT] (Site of) (1)
A keep and bailey castle built in the late 11th c. by a Peverel (2) Under Henry IV it went to the Crown and is still part of the Duchy of Lancaster; the remains of the moat are evident and a circular depression at SP 9607 6880 may indicate the site of the keep. The possibility exists that the major defensive works - converted into a conygarth in the 15th C. were never completed. (3). (2,3)
The remains of this castle consist of an irregular, high, tree covered rampart with accompanying water-filled moat; no masonry is evident on the rampart nor is the possible site of the keep identifiable on the ground.
The strength of the existing remains together with their abrupt termination support the suggestion of authority 3. that they were never completed.
Published survey (25" 1926) revised. (4)
Survey of the castle site in 1967 resulted in finds of buff shelly ware on ground surface at SP 961688. In the paddock south of the moat, foundations of limestone wall much overgrown by rough grass were observed. About 60 to 70 ft from the present west end of the moat and adjacent to it, a small rectangular chamber can be identified, with a buttress(?) running north into the present scarp of the moat. Beyond this to the east further walls could be traced by probing, but were too overgrown to allow of any firm identification without excavation. The stone lies 1-2 ins below the surface, and further south in the paddock, parched grass may indicate more foundations. (5)
The paddock noted by Authy 4 has been mown and levelled. The only feature readily identifiable on the surface seems to be the foundations of a long rectangular building aligned along the S bank of the moat.
Mr A N Groome of Higham Ferrers History Society said there is documentary evidence that the successor to the Norman castle stood outside and immediately south of the moat.
The field report of 1962 is still substantially correct. The water level on the revised 25", the 1:1250 resurvey of 1964, and the present situation indicate a seasonal fluctuation. (6)
Castle (site of) immediately N of church. Built, probably soon after 1066 by William Peverel. Little is known of its history but documents suggest a substantial complex of buildings. Neglected by late C15th. 1523 license granted to remove stone. Site now built upon (no record made of finds). Short scarp 2 m. high only remains of castle. Large L-shaped moat or pond and large mound to N are of unknown date or function. By the C15th this area was being used as a rabbit warren: moat probably served as a fishpond. (7)
Scheduled area revised and new monument number assigned (formerly 81). (8)
(SP 961688). Part of the estate map of Higham Ferrers shows an L-shaped pond which is said to be the remains of the moat around the Medieval castle. In fact the pond bounds an enclosed rabbit warren called Coney Garth. The correct location of the castle is indicated by the name Castle Yard to the south. (9)
SP 9613 6871. An early Norman motte and bailey castle built by William Peverel, probably in the late 11th century. Documentary sources suggest that the castle was stone-built, with an inner and outer bailey and defences including inner and outer gateways and a drawbridge. It was demolished in 1523. Records show that the castle also had a garden, a dovecote and a fishpond. The remains of a dovecote, probably the one built in 1406-7 survive in the outer bailey area. The rabbit warren was first recorded in 1313. A ditch lying south and east of the warren was created from 2 fishponds which originally lay within the outer bailey. Scheduled. (11)
Listed by Cathcart King as a vanished castle. (12)
Little is known of the history of the castle , it being a possession of the Peverels, then Ferrers families, until 1266 when it came to the House of Lancaster. Repaired by both Lancastrian and Yorkist Kings, the major refernces to it are the rebuilding of the hall after a fire in 1411-13, and reconstruction of the kitchen prior to the King's visit in 1462-3. (13)
The large L-shaped pond and the adjacent bank (described above), were both visible and mapped, as part of the Bedford Borough NMP project, from lidar imagery. (14) |