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Site of the manor house of the De la Beche family, occupied by a farm in the 19th century
MARKED ON SOME MAPS AS A CASTLE, MORE PROBABLY A FORTIFIED MANOR? POSSIBLY ERECTED BY THE DE LA BECHE FAMILY, REIGN OF EDWARD III, (1327-1377) WHEN LICENCE TO CRENELLATE GRANTED. MEDIEVAL FOUNDATIONS REVEALED BY EXCAVATIONS. MOATED? (NB; EXCAVATIONS INDEX RECORDS EXCAVATIONS HERE IN 1933 <11>). Details of the excavations are extremely cursory (ie one sentence <2>), but it appears that foundations of part of a south wall were revealed <9>, and have been compared with other early 14th century castles.
The VCH <3> records the house of the De la Beches, on a small eminence south of the church: "De la Beche Farm now occupies its site, but the line of the moat may still be traced and is marked by one or two small ponds". Grim's Ditch runs along the northern boundary of the property. Hewett <8> quotes Sir R C Hoare on Grims Ditch's association with Beche Farm: "a very strong bank and ditch which passes close to a farm-house, and through the fields adjoining to it."
A silver seal inscribed 'Isabella de la Beche' and two ancient hinges have been found in the vicinity <8><12><19>. Numbers of encaustic tiles have also been recovered, and the site has been referred to as Beche Castle <5>.
The family also owned Beaumy's Castle near Beech Hill, and it is unclear from the current sources whether a licence to crenellate was granted for this latter property as well as or instead of the Aldworth manor.
A site visit by D Greenaway in 2007 <10> confirmed that the platform of the fortified manor house was still visible as a rectangular promontory sticking south from Grim's Ditch. Pieces of stonework from the house have been incorporated into garden features over many years; they appeared to be approximately 14th century in date. A new swimming pool had been recently built in the grounds.
The revised Pevsner guide <18> notes a moated former farmhouse with earthworks.
Archaeological investigation in connection with a planning application to remodel and extend the extant house at De La Beche did not find a castle, but revealed parts of two buildings dating from the 12th and the 13th centuries. Five occupation phases were established <16>.
| --- | Hawkes and Son. 1841. Aldworth Tithe Map. 3 chains to 1 inch. [Map / SWB150028]
http://ww2.berkshirenclosure.org.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=DD1%2f4%2f1 (Accessed 10/02/2022) |
| <01> | MACKENZIE, J D. 1897. CASTLES OF ENGLAND. P169. [Monograph / SWB10378] |
| <02> | 1933. JBAA 1933 39. P213. [Article in serial / SWB10379] |
| <03> | Page and Ditchfield (eds). 1924. Victoria County History (VCH) Berks IV 1924. Vol 4. P3,5. [Monograph / SWB10281]
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4 (Accessed 24/09/2015) |
| <04> | Cathcart King, D J. 1983. Castellarium Anglicanum: an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands. Vol1, p12. [Monograph / SWB147232] |
| <05> | Newbury District Field Club. 1875-86. TRANS NEWBURY DISTRICT FIELD CLUB 1875-86 VOL 3. p255. [Article in serial / SWB11187] |
| <06> | McCardle, D J F. 1988. Gazetteer - West Berkshire Medieval Moats. [Unpublished document / SWB12970] |
| <07> | Walker, J and Walker, M. 1927. The Church Plate of Berkshire. P9. [Monograph / SWB12809] |
| <08> | Hewett, W. 1844. The History & Antiquities of the Hundred of Compton. online. P95. [Monograph / SWB10499]
https://archive.org/details/historyantiquit00hewegoog (Accessed 09/09/2015) |
| <09> | Braun, H. 1936. The English Castle. p103. [Monograph / SWB13615] |
| <10> | Greenaway, D. 2000-present. Personal Communication from Dick Greenaway about sites in West Berkshire. 25/04/2007, De La Beche house. [Verbal communication / SWB146730] |
| <11> | English Heritage. 1978-present. English Heritage NMR Excavation Index for England. EHNMR-628063. [Index / SWB6845] |
| <12> | Llewelyn Lloyd, Rev Francis. 1883. The 14th century Monuments of Aldworth Church. Illust of seal. [Monograph / SWB147370] |
| <13> | Ordnance Survey. 1960s-70s. Ordnance Survey Field Investigators Comments. F1 NVQ 25-APR-63. [Personal observation / SWB14640] |
| <14> | John Moore Heritage Services. 2008. An Archaeological Evaluation at De La Beche, Aldworth, West Berkshire. JMHS Proj No 1957. In ADS Grey Lit library. 10.5284/1018962. [Unpublished document / SWB147413]
http://dx.doi.org/10.5284/1018962 (Accessed 05/09/2013) |
| <15> | Hutt, A. 2008. Field Work Report for resistivity survey in De La Beche garden on 27th August 2008. [Unpublished document / SWB147540] |
| <16> | John Moore Heritage Services. 2009. An Archaeological Excavation at De La Beche, Aldworth, West Berkshire. JMHS Proj No 1957. 2017 WBC Network. 10.5284/1018962. [Unpublished document / SWB147587]
https://doi.org/10.5284/1018962 (Accessed 09/10/2017) |
| <17> | Tyack, G, Bradley, S and Pevsner, N. 2010. The Buildings of England (Berkshire). p125. [Monograph / SWB147855] |
| <18> | Fletcher, W. c1840. Tour Round Reading. Google book. p45. [Unpublished document / SWB148846]
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=EeQGAAAAQAAJ (Accessed 06/02/2019) |
| <19> | Reading Borough Council. 2019. Reading Museum Collections Online. http://collections.readingmuseum.org.uk/. 29/10/2019. REDMG : 1970.31.1. [Website / SWB149632]
http://collections.readingmuseum.org.uk/ (Accessed on 29/10/2019) |