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| Name: | RISINGHOE CASTLE, Bedford |
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| HER No.: | 335 |
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| Type of Record: | Monument |
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Summary
Remains of medieval motte castle
Full Description
The site consists of a roughly circular mound approx 6m high and 30m across. The top is flattened and the sides fairly steep, but there is no sign of a moat or any other ancillary earthworks. An entry dating from 1180-1200 in the Cartulary of Warden Abbey mentions the old castle beside Risinghoe Mill, indicating that the structure was already old by this date; it is likely to have been one of a number of "adulterine" castles known to have been built by King Stephen during his seige of Bedford in 1138. As such it would have been a short-lived timber structure.
The surrounding fields have been excavated for brick-earth, which may have removed any associated earthworks; a subsidiary mound is said to have existed into the 19th century. Limited excavation of the mound in 1943 found nothing structural, although sherds of medieval pottery were found nearby.
Protected Status: None recorded
Monument Types
- CASTLE (12th Century - 1100 AD? to 1199 AD?)
Associated Finds: None recorded
Associated Events: None recorded
Sources and Further Reading
| --- | SBD10506 - Photograph: HER Photograph Archive. F1083/1-5 |
| --- | SBD10508 - Slide: HER Slide Archive. 2133 |
| --- | SBD10551 - Unpublished document: Bedfordshire & Luton Archives and Records Service Documents. BLARS: MAT17/1/1, Goldington Tithe Award, 1843 |
| --- | SBD10574 - Article in serial: 1908. Victoria County History, Bedfordshire. Vol 1, pp 296-297 |
| --- | SBD10706 - Bibliographic reference: Wadmore. 1920. Earthworks of Bedfordshire. pp 242-243 |
| --- | SBD10756 - Article in serial: Associated Architectural Societies Reports. Vol 3, 1854, pp 175-185 |
| --- | SBD10783 - Unpublished document: 1937. Bedfordshire Regional Planning Authority Report. p 187 |
| --- | SBD10794 - Unpublished document: Bedford Archaeological Society. List of moated sites, Dec 1972 |
| --- | SBD10807 - Unpublished document: Bedford Museum. OS 6" map, annotated by Kuhlicke |
| --- | SBD10843 - Unpublished document: J Wood. J Wood. Description and discussion, 1983 |
| --- | SBD10941 - Bibliographic reference: Mawer & Stenton. 1926. Placenames of Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire. no page ref |
| --- | SBD10965 - Unpublished document: OS: TL 05. TL 05 SE 4 |
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