Heritage Gateway

Cambridgeshire HER

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

CHER Number:	01096
Type of record:	Monument
Name:	Site of Picot's castle, Bourn

Summary

The site of the castle of Picot of Cambridge, sheriff of the county in 1086. A few earthworks remain, although the site has been much damaged by the construction of Bourn Hall and associated buildings.

Grid Reference:	TL 323 561
Parish:	Bourn, South Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire

Monument Type(s):

CASTLE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
MOAT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Associated Events:

Watching brief at Bourn Hall, 1997 (Ref: BOU BH 97)

Protected Status:

Scheduled Monument () 1014238: A ringwork and bailey castle, and 17th century formal garden remains, at Bourn Hall
Listed Building (II*) 1162529: Bourn Hall

Full description

2. 'Bourn was the seat of the barony of Picot de Cambridge who has a castle at this place, of which the moat and other vestiges remain. The castle is said to have been burnt down in the Baron's Wars during the reign of Henry III by Robert de Lisle'. John Layer (1640) says 'Alan de Turre seemeth to be of the castle there, for aunciently there was a high castell ye ruines and monuments remaining their this day'. There is little doubt that Picot, the Domesday tenant, himself was the builder of the keep and bailey castle whose faint traces are now to be see round Bourn Hall, as he gave to the canons of Cambridge (afterwards Barnwell) 'the church of Brune with the chapel of the castle'. Whatever structure once stood here, all trace of it has disappeared, and even the earthwork has been so far obliterated that any exact description of the site is impossible. Its original form seems to have comprised a large banked and ditched inclosure of about 3 acres with a smaller horseshoe bailey down the gentle slope of the NE. There are signs of an original entrance to the bailey at the NE extremity. The British Museum Stowe MS (1025, 25) written before 1760 probably by Dr Charles Mason, Fellow of Trinity College, describes the castle as 'circular, about 160 yards in diameter'. It had a parapet walk 'between the ditch and inner vallum'. A plan on the same MS shows the inner ring nearly complete with a gap less than one sixth of the circumference in front of the house. The plan (in VCH) does not include the bailey but shows its point of junction with the keep.

3. The castle of Picot of Cambridge, sheriff of the county in 1086, now merely consists of two adjoining banked and ditched enclosures, much damaged by the construction of Bourn Hall and Hall Farm with their outbuildings and gardens. The remains lie on the level top and NE slope of a hill of boulder clay 196ft above OD. That part of the monument lying in the grounds of Hall Farm was inaccessible to the Commission and this survey is therefore incomplete.
The SW enclosure is the main on and takes in most of the hill top; it is circular, 450 ft in diameter, but has been almost obliterated on the NE. The ditch, water-filled on the SE, where it is widest, is 30ft to 45ft wide, 6 ft to 10ft deep and 13ft to 32 ft wide across the bottom. The internal bank survives on the W and SE but has been altered on the W in the C17 to form a raised walk; on the SE is a stretch of rounded bank 80ft long, 30ft wide and 2.5ft high. The original entrance may have been on the NE. The interior has been much altered; the Hall stands on a rectangular platform 2ft high. When a mid C18 antiquary, perhaps D C Mason, visited the site, the rampart of the SW enclosure was better preserved and there was a berm between it and the ditch. (BM Stowe MS 1025,25). The NE enclosure, crescentic in plan with the points placed against the ditch is traceable on the N as a hollow 66ft wide, 3ft deep and 13ft across the bottom. There are indications of an internal bank and slight traces of a causeway across the ditch on the NE.

O2. A Norman ring work and bailey badly mutilated by later occupation of the site. Published 25in survey revised.

5. A watching brief was carried out during the construction of new buildings 100m to the NW of Bourn Hall. No archaeological remains were encountered.
Function: Military and residential.
Finished: Yes
Occupation: Yes
Relationship to surrounding settlements: Adjacent to village and church.

6. Bourn Hall, built in 1602 (see RN 01096a) on the site chosen by Picot de Cambridge, the first Norman Sheriff of the shire, for the location of his castle at 'Brune' in the 11th century. The castle was of the ringway and bailey type with two enclosures, each constructed as a raised embankment within a ditch. These remains can still be seen in the park to the south of the Hall. The raised walk along the top of the ringway has yew hedging. A garden of the early 17th century was laid out in a formal style. In 1871 the estate was sold and the sale particulars detail a 19th century formal revivalist garden. Alterations to the approach drive, diverting it into a graceful curve past Victorian and 17th century stable blocks, were made between 1826 and 1886. The Hall is set in 22 acres of park land to the W. of the village.

9-10.The earthworks of the castle are visible on air photographs and lidar. The ringwork comprises a broad ditch, 11m wide, with traces of an internal bank to the west at TL 3220 5613. This bank has later been adapted as part of the formal gardens. Elements of the bailey ditch can be seen to the north and east of the ringwork and traces of the south-eastern junction of the ringwork and bailey are also visible at TL 3234 5614. The causeway can be seen as a bank running through the entrance of the bailey as far as the ringwork between TL 3243 5629 and TL 3229 5618. Other internal elements can also be seen. Many of the medieval earthworks have been destroyed or remodelled as part of the designed landscape relating to Bourn Hall (see UID 1108176). The earthworks appear to be still extant on the latest 2014 oblique photography.

<1> 1958, OS 6 inch map (Map). SCB8930.

<2> Salzman, L.F (ed), 1948, The Victoria County History of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. Volume 2, 16-17 plan (Bibliographic reference). SCB14649.

<3> RCHM, 1968, An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Cambridgeshire. Volume I. West Cambridgeshire, p. 26-7 (Bibliographic reference). SCB18049.

<4> Renn, D.F., 1973, Norman Castles in Britain, p. 112-3 (Bibliographic reference). SCB13873.

<5> Roberts, J., 1997, Bourn Hall, Bourn - an archaeological watching brief (Unpublished report). SCB17323.

<6> Cambridgeshire Garden Trust, 2000, The Gardens of Cambridgeshire: A Gazetteer, p. 61 (Bibliographic reference). SCB21348.

<7> Taylor, A., Castles of Cambridgeshire (Bibliographic reference). SCB19242.

<8> Baird, J., Field Investigator Comments, 14/3/73 (Verbal communication). SCB62256.

<9> SW Cambridgeshire project 2014 (NHPP), 2016, LIDAR TL3256 DSM 16-OCT-2010 (Geospatial data). SCB54793.

<10> SW Cambridgeshire project 2014 (NHPP), 2016, NMR 27910_039 11-JAN-2014 (Aerial Photograph). SCB54802.

Sources and further reading