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Monument Types

• RINGWORK (Medieval - 1067 AD to 1539 AD)

Summary

Earthwork remains of a fortified moated site with a dependent enclosure containing the Norman chapel, now the parish church. Fishponds lay to the north and south of the castle.

Additional Information

Scheduled Monument description:
Essendine Castle is a large fortified manor site with a fishpond and an ajoining enclosure containing a church. A further set of fishponds originally lay to the south of this, but were destroyed in the last fifty years. The moat is very large, the outer dimensions being about 100m square. The ditch is 30m wide on the western side, up to 40m on the north, and 3-4m deep. The moat island occupies an area of 55m x 50m. The adjoining fishpond, of roughly triangular shape, measures about 60 x 30m in maximum dimension, and has a break in the bank connecting it to the moat ditch where some stonework is showing. A substantial stream called the West Glen River flows from north to south on the eastern side of the site which is bounded by an earth bank. The outer enclosure to the south side is rectangular, measuring 120 x 50m in overall dimension and has access via a bridge. The church is of Norman origin. Historical records indicate that the medieval complex was probably built by the Busseys or Robert de Vipont at the end of the 12th or early 13th centuries. It is described in an account of 1417. The strong defensive nature of the site, and its similarities to Woodhead Castle 5km to the east, suggest a variation on a ringwork. St.Mary's Church is a listed building grade II* and is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath the church is included. The modern burial area to the south of the church is totally excluded.

Site scheduled 11/09/91.

Two pieces of floor or roof tile with glaze, one later medieval pot sherd and one roof slate with a circular nail hole, all found by a rabbit hole on the west edge of the island at TF 0490 1285. (RK 30/07/01)

<1> Hartley R F, 1983, The Medieval Earthworks of Rutland, p15, p18 (Bibliographic reference). SLE601.

"The complex of earthworks is heavily overgrown and the plan here is based on the Ordnance Survey. There is a large moated platform (2) with a fishpond (1) to the north, and an enclosure on the south side containing a chapel (now the parish church). A complex of small fishponds (4) is now ploughed away. The castle is described in an extent of 1417 (Blore 1811, 201, Page 1935, 250)."

<2> Elkin, Kathleen (ed), 2015, Medieval Leicestershire: Recent Research on the Medieval Archaeology of Leicestershire, p132, "Medieval fortified sites of Leics & Rutland", Richard Knox (Bibliographic reference). SLE5149.

"A fortified moated site with an adjoining sub-rectangular banked enclosure which acts as a bailey. The latter contains a mid 12th century chapel, now the parish church of St Mary. The moat and enclosure were once flanked to the north and south by fishponds, but only the northern pond survives. (Hartley 1983, 15). A high status residence is suggested in documents from the late 13th through to the late 16th centuries, and in 1417 a description is given of an extensive manorial site (Blore 1811, 201), however there are no references to a castle here (Page 1935, 250-1). There is controversy over the founding of the castle; the Bussey family and later the de Viponts owned the land from the late 1150s onwards, but it is likely to have been Walter Espec who owned the land at Domesday, and Creighton suggests that the similarity in form of Essendine to Espec's main holding, Helmsley Castle, North Yorkshire, is probably more than coincidence (Creighton 1999, 25)."

<3> Brown, AE, 1975, Archaeological sites and finds in Rutland, p10 (Bibliographic reference). SLE5999.

In 1417 the moat, chapel, domestic and ancillary buildings are described as extant.

<4> Nichols J, The History and Antiquities of Leicestershire, Vol 1 pt 2 (1811), p201 (Bibliographic reference). SLE7.

See <3>

<5> Page W (ed), 1935, The Victoria History of the County of Rutland Volume 2, p250 (Bibliographic reference). SLE913.

Residence probably built by the Busseys or Robert de Vipont at the end of the 12th or early in the 13th cent. For some centuries the residence of the Lords of the Manor and could have still been standing in Queen Elizabeth's reign. Site covers just over an acre and is encompassed by a deep moat. There is no tradition of any other Mansion House having existed, but records do not mention any castle. (This would appear to be a defended mansion house rather than a castle).

<6> Pevsner N, 1984, The Buildings of England Leicestershire and Rutland, p466-7 (Bibliographic reference). SLE4.

The church is said to have been the castle chapel in whose bailey it is sited. The south doorway is probably of the second third of the C12th.

<7> McK Clough, TH (ed), 2000, Rutland Record, No. 20, No. 20 (2000), p415-424 (Journal). SLE6852.

The fortified medieval site represents an early ringwork and bailey, subsequently remodelled to form the basis of an extensive manorial complex. Tradition states that the castle was raised by the Bussey family, lords of Essendine from c.1159, or their successors, the de Viponts. In 1086 the manor was in the hands of Walter Espec. The parish church lies within a rectangular enclosure appended to the site, offset immediately to the west of an earthen causeway linking former ringwork and bailey. The church may have begun as a castle chapel.

<8> 2016, National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) accessioning (Website). SLE4981.

SUMMARY: "Medieval moat surviving as an earthwork. The moated island may have been occupied by a fortified manor house built in the late 12th/early 13th century. The outer enclosure to the south of the moat contains the parish church (TF 01 SW 10) and a number of small fishponds surviving as earthworks. A further fishpond lies to the north."
URL: 'https://nrhe-to-her.esdm.co.uk/NRHE/RecordDetail.aspx?pageid=45&he_uid=348308', accessioned 26/07/2024.

<9> Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 (6") historic mapping, 1959 (Map). SLE7243.

(TF 049 128) Castle (site of).

<10> Page W (ed), 1935, The Victoria History of the County of Rutland Volume 2, p113 (Bibliographic reference). SLE913.

Earthworks, classified as a moated enclosure with stronger defensive works (see plan).

<11> Field Investigators Comments, B H Seaman/27-MAR-1972 (Website). SLE3488.

The earthworks comprise a strongly ditched island with an outer court containing Essendine parish church to the south. A fishpond survives to the north but the smaller stews on the south side (shown on plan, VCH vol. 1) were filled in before the 1939-45 war (local information). The site is flanked on the east by the River Glen. In reasonably good condition but has a fair covering of trees and undergrowth; no building foundations were seen. See 25" survey.

<12> Scheduled Monument List/Amendment, English Heritage SAM Amendment Leicestershire 04-SEP-1991 (Scheduling record). SLE7368.

TF 0494 1283. Essendine Castle moated site.
A large fortified manor site with a fishpond and an adjoining enclosure containing a church (TF 01 SW - excluded from the scheduling). The moat is very large, the outer dimensions being 100m square. The ditch is 30m wide on the western side, up to 40m on the North, and 3-4m deep. The moat island occupies an area of 50m x 55m. The adjoining fishpond of roughly triangular shape measures 60m x 30m maximum. The outer enclosure to the south side, is rectangular, measuring 120m x 50m overall and has access via a bridge. The strong defensive nature of the site and its similarities to Woodhead Castle (SK 91 SE 6) suggest a variation of a ringwork. Scheduled (RSM) No.17012.

<13> 1995, Lincolnshire NMP Project, Damian Grady/30-NOV-1995 (Index). SLE7305.

The moat described by the previous authorities was masked by trees on the available air photographs. The fish ponds mapped by VCH to the south of the moat and thought to have been filled in before World War II by BHS are in fact visible on air photographs taken in 1947 and 1953. They were visible at TF 0495 1272 as a large L-shaped ditch with two parallel banks to the north of the ditch. (Morph Nos LI.771.2.1-2).
This description is based on data from the RCHME MORPH2 database.

<14> Vertical aerial photograph reference number, RAF vertical AP CPE/UK/1932/3317 17/01/1947 (Aerial Photograph). SLE7253.

See <13>

<15> Oblique aerial photograph reference number, CUCAP AP LJ 35 and 36 21/04/1953 (Aerial Photograph). SLE5004.

See <13>

<16> 1999, Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society, Volume 73, Vol 73 (1999), p19-33 (Journal). SLE5953.

Analysis of the site in relation to its Mediaeval landscpe, the church, manor etc.

Sources

Associated Finds

None recorded

Designations

• Scheduled Monument 1010693: Essendine castle moated site

Associated Images

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