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Summary

Circular ringwork, with oval outer bailey divided into 2, on gravel 'island' W of Biggleswade. Excavation in 1962 produced 12th c evidence. Island also contains ring ditch, and (?Roman) square enclosure

Full Description

The site includes the visible and buried remains of a medieval ringwork and bailey castle, together with a complex of other buried ditches and enclosures located on a low gravel island to the west of Biggleswade, defined on its eastern side by the present course of the River Ivel and one of its subsidiary channels, and by a further small tributary to the west. The site was first identified from air photos in 1954, and partly excavated in 1962.

The main stronghold, or ringwork, lies approx 45m to the east of the A1 Biggleswade bypass. It includes a circular platform, 30-35m in diameter, surrounded by two concentric curcuits of ditches, each approx 6m in width and separated by an interval of approx 5m. The ditches are largely infilled although slight hollows can be discerned, and the centre of the ringwork is marginally higher than the ground around it. Two defended outer courts, or baileys, lie on the western side of the ringwork forming an oval enclosure which measures 120m north to south and 75m east to west. The baileys are surrounded by an infilled ditch, c.10m in width, which is linked to the eastern side of the inner defences. The bailey interiors are raised by approx 0.5m, and divided into two roughly equal parts by a further ditch extending from the western side of the ringwork. A causeway spans the two ditches on the northern side of the ringwork, giving access froom the northern bailey, which was in turn entered via a narrow causeway across the northern section of the perimeter ditch.

Some air photos show traces of an internal bank or rampart accompanying the bailey ditch which would probably have supported a timber palisade. A similar arrangement is thought to have strengthened the ringwork defences. The ditches of both baileys and the ringwork are segmental, constructed in short lengths separated by narrow baulks of firm ground. Excavation in 1962 uncovered evidence for destruction of timber and wattle-and-daub buildings, in a layer between the ditch circuits. Fragments of timber were recovered from the upper fills of the outer ditch. Pottery recovered during the excavation dates the ringwork to the early to mid 12th century, and it is thought to date from the civil war during the reign of Stephen (1135-1154 AD).

The castle may have had earlier antecedents; an entry in Domesday recorded a small parcel of land in the parish of Warden held by Ralf de Insula, the first Norman lord of Biggleswade. From its position across the Ivel from the town it was clearly not built for the defence of the town, however, but to control movement along the Ivel valley and across the river. The term "Castellgate" was used in a grant of 1423 to define the limits of a parcel of land, and is the only documentary reference to the ringwork, although by this time it had almost certainly fallen into disuse.

The raised gravel island attracted various phases of use and occupation before the ringwork was constructed. Cropmarks show the ring ditch of a Bronze Age barrow overlain by the eastern bailey ditch, and in turn overlying an earlier ditch which extends in a broad arc to the east and north. This ditch is flanked to the east by a similar feature, also describing an arc, and continuing approx 50m further to the north west. The two ditches are thought to represent part of an enclosure dating from the Neolithic or early Bronze Age. A further enclosure, lying to the north of the northern bailey, appears as a subsquare cropmark approx 50m across. It is similar in appearance to Iron Age and Roman enclosures in the area. The enclosure and the two curving ditches are all overlain by a broad cropmark representing a palaeochannel. This is thought to date from the later Roman period, when a rise in water levels is attested from other sites in the vicinity. The ringwork and baileys reespect the channel, which may still have held water when they were built, or may have become an area of marshy ground.

The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument (No. 20414); the scheduling includes all of the earlier cropmarks as well as the ringwork and baileys.

Protected Status:

• Scheduled Monument 20414: A ringwork and bailey castle, ring ditch and enclosures east of Brookland Farm
• SHINE: Castle site west of Biggleswade; Scheduled Monument

Monument Types

• ENCLOSURE (Early Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 1501 BC)
• RING DITCH (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
• SUBRECTANGULAR ENCLOSURE (Early Iron Age to Roman/Romano-British - 800 BC to 409 AD)
• PALAEOCHANNEL (5th Century - 400 AD? to 499 AD?)
• CASTLE (12th Century - 1100 AD to 1199 AD)

Associated Finds

• FBD5608 - POT (Small quantity) (12th Century - 1100 AD to 1199 AD)

Associated Events: None recorded

Sources and Further Reading

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.