More information : (ST 85575786) Castle (NR) (Site of)
(ST 85645792) Wooden Piles (NR) (Site of) (1)
Trowbridge Castle is first mentioned in 1139 but by the 14th century it was probably no longer a fortress. Leland refers to it c 1540 as 'clene down' and in 1670 Aubrey referred to the 'ruinated castle of the Dukes of Lancaster'. Fragments of the ditch and tower and ramparts were extant in the early 19th century. In 1875 Canon Jones gave a detailed description and plan of motte and bailey which was bounded by the Biss on the west and by a moat, now followed by the line of Fore Street on the east up to the market, and then south-west to rejoin the Biss. Renn describes the castle as being a ringwork containing a motte.
A small portion of an old wall behind a house in Fore Street is
traditionally thought to be a part of the castle wall. Excavations in Court Street in 1902 and 1924 for the Co-operative Society's Bakery revealed four 12th-century tombstones and burials. The tombstones are now in the parish church. They may mark the site of the castle chapel or an early parish church. (2-6)
No remains of Trowbridge Castle were seen nor was it possible to see the "traditional" castle walling in Fore Street. Jones's location is doubtless correct but the regularly curved walls of the Home Mills woollen factory at ST 85495797 suggest that it utilises earlier foundations and that the area of the castle is less than Jones surmised. The Co-op Bakery at Court Street is at ST85545793. The published reference to "Wooden Piles" seems to have no documentary authority. (7)
ST 85565788. During building operations at Knee's Department Store in Castle Street a large ditch containing stratified sherds of the 13th to 17th century was discovered. The position of the ditch suggests that it was part of the castle defences. (8)
No change to previous information, but the recent excavation report (8) seems to indicate that the ditch was that of the motte since it is well inside the traditional boundary of the castle. (9)
The excavations at the castle have not determined whether or not the defences had been substantially established before the castle was besieged in 1139, nor whether the putative motte and two baileys were the product of a single phase of construction or a process of long-term development. Morphological evidence sugests a sequence sililar to Goltho, that is, a motte added to a pre-existing sub-rectangular ringwork. A Saxo-Norman settlement was cleared to make way for the castle, and a church and cemetery were incorporated within the castle bounds. (13)
Excavation in 1977 revealed the foundations of a late Saxon
church (ST85NE36), overlain by a layer of re-deposited clay,
interpreted as the remains of the castle mound.(10)
Excavation in 1986 at ST855580 showed that a wall of possible
late Medieval origin, reputedly on the line of the West side of
the outer bailey, was constructed in the fill of a ditch, at
least 2.5m.deep, producing C12-C14 material.
Further excavations within the outer bailey revealed sequences
of Medieval and later usage.
Excavation in 1988 located the ditch between the inner and outer
bailies, as well as earlier settlement showed that a wall of
possible late Medieval origin, reputedly on the
line of the West side of the outer bailey, was constructed in the
fill of a ditch, at least 2.5m.deep, producing C12-C14 material.(11)
Listed by Cathcart King as a vanished castle. (12)
The excavations at the castle have not determined whether or not the defences had been substantially established before the castle was besieged in 1139, nor whether the putative motte and two baileys were the product of a single phase of construction or a process of long-term development. Morphological evidence sugests a sequence sililar to Goltho, that is, a motte added to a pre-existing sub-rectangular ringwork. A Saxo-Norman settlement was cleared to make way for the castle, and a church and cemetery were incorporated within the castle bounds. (13) |