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| Name: | EARTHWORK, Castle Close |
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| HER No.: | 994 |
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| Type of Record: | Monument |
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Summary
An oval banked & ditched enclosure, medieval in date
Full Description
The monument at Castle Close is a slightly oval moat, about 60m across. The moat ditch is approx 7m wide by up to 3m deep. The central island is surrounded by a bank 1.5m high. A small area of flat ground in the middle of the island measures approx 25m by 20m. There are no causeways across the moat. The eastern side of the moat holds standing water and is fed by a leat or stream, 4m wide and 0.5m deep, which runs for approx 100m to the east where it joins other field drains. A survey dated 1617 refers to the land in which the monument lies as "Castle Close" and, although the monument has been described as a type of Norman castle, the defensive appearance of the earthworks is considered to represent a later fortification of the moat. The moat at Sharnbrook is one of a number of medieval sites located on the northern slopes of the Ouse valley, such as the moats at Bletsoe and Thurleigh and castles at Thurleigh and Odell.
Documentary evidence suggests that the site may be an early circular manorial moat.
Protected Status:
- Scheduled Monument 20404: Moated site in Castle Close
Monument Types
- CASTLE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- DITCH (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD?)
- MOAT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
Associated Finds: None recorded
Associated Events
- EBD46 - Archaeological Geophysical Survey on a moated site at Castle Close Sharnbrook (Ref: 08/89)
Sources and Further Reading
| --- | SBD10803 - Scheduling record: English Heritage. SAM record form. No 20404 |
| --- | SBD11031 - Article in serial: A E Brown, C C Taylor. 1991. Moated Sites in Northern Bedfordshire: some surveys and wider implications. pp 14-16 |
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