More information : (Centred: SP 408759) Brandon Castle (GT) (Site of). (1)
At Brandon are some very extensive earthworks marking the site of an important mediaeval castle which formerly stood here. The defences appear to have consisted mainly of broad moats and sheets of water, (and lying as they do on low ground beside the Avon are even now liable to flood), dammed by artificial banks and fed by sluices from the Avon. "These works are very extensive, covering perhaps 6 or 7 acres. The central moated mount, upon which the castle itself stood, is an almost square plateau and contains nearly an acre; it has irregular additions and another smaller raised square on the east side; only fragments of walls of masonry now survive, and Dugdale wrote of it as merely 'moats and heaps of rubbish' in 1656" (See Illustrations Card). (2)
The site of Brandon Castle "was granted by Henry I to Geoffrey de Clinton, founder of Kenilworth Castle, and was by him bestowed on his son-in-law, Norman de Verdune... The castle is supposed to have been erected by Geoffrey or his son-in-law. In 1255, owing to its being garrisoned for the King, it was attacked and razed by Simon de Montfort. It was rebuilt in the reign of Edward I, and the date of its subsequent destruction is unknown". (3)
Brandon Castle "was still used as a residence in 1309, but how much later it continued so to function is not known". (4)
Excavations in 1947 conducted by the late J.H. Edwards showed that the castle had a small rectangular keep - the only one in Warwickshire other than Kenilworth. It was assumed that the stone built castle was erected c.1225 and was destroyed in 1266. Finds, which included pottery, iron objects, coins etc. belong to this period. (5)
The foundations of the keep are still exposed and appear as a rectangle with a central division. In the court to the west, foundations of minor buildings can be traced. The perimeter of the field containing the site is marked by a bank and external ditch which appears to be a flood barrier - whether it is contemporary with the main works is difficult to say.
Published survey (25" 1958) revised. (6)
Listed by Cathcart King (7) |