The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles.Armitage, Ella Sophia
History
The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles.
Armitage, Ella Sophia
Architecture, Norman; Castles -- Great Britain -- History -- To 1500; Normans -- Great Britain
BISHOP'S STORTFORD, Herts (Fig. 9).--Waytemore Castle is the name given
to the large oval motte at this place, which is evidently the site of
the castle of "Estorteford," given by William the Conqueror to Maurice,
Bishop of London.[286] The manor of Stortford had been bought from King
William by Maurice's predecessor, William, who had been one of the
Norman favourites of Edward the Confessor.[287] He may have built this
castle, but he cannot have built it till after the Conquest, as the
land did not belong to his see till then.
"The castle consists of a large oval motte, 250 × 200 feet at its base,
rising 40 feet above the marshes of the river Stort, and crowned by
a keep with walls of flint rubble, 12 feet thick. On the S. of the
motte there are traces of a pentagonal bailey, covering 2-1/2 acres.
It is enclosed on four sides by the narrow streams which intersect
the marshes. The dry ditch on the fifth side, facing the motte, is
discernible. The castle abuts on the road called The Causeway, which
crosses the valley; it is in a good position to command both road and
river."[288] The value of the manor had gone down at Domesday.[289]
BOURN, Lincolnshire (Fig. 10).--The manor of Bourn or Brune appears to
have been much split up amongst various owners at the time of Domesday.
A Breton named Oger held the demesne.[290] A charter of Picot, the
Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, a person often mentioned in Domesday Book,
gives the church of Brune and the chapel of the castle to the priory
which he had founded near the castle of Cambridge--afterwards removed
to Barnwell.[291] Bourn was the centre of a large soke in Anglo-Saxon
times. Leland mentions the "Grete Diches, and the Dungeon Hill of the
ancient Castel,"[292] but very little of the remains is now visible,
and the motte has been almost removed.
"The castle lies in flat ground, well watered by springs and streams.
The motte was placed at the southern apex of a roughly oval bailey,
from which it was separated by its own wet ditch, access being obtained
through a gatehouse which stood on the narrow neck by which this
innermost enclosure, at its N.W. end, joined the principal bailey,
which, in its turn, was embraced on all sides but the S. by a second
and concentric bailey, also defended by a wet ditch, which broadens out
at the S.W. corner into St Peter's Pool. There is another enclosure
beyond this which may be of later date. The inner bailey covers 3
acres. Very little is now left of the motte, but a plan made in 1861
showed it to be fairly perfect,[293] and some slight remains of the
gatehouse were excavated in that year. The castle is on the line of
the Roman road from Peterborough to Sleaford, and close to the Roman
Car-Dyke."[294]
The value of Bourn had risen at Domesday.
[Illustration: FIG. 10. Bourn, Lincs. Bramber, Sussex.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account