South Cerney Castle

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Coordinates: 51°40′40″N 1°56′00″W / 51.677822°N 1.933358°W / 51.677822; -1.933358 South Cerney Castle was an adulterine castle of Motte and bailey construction built in South Cerney, Gloucestershire in the mid-12th century.[1] Today only slight earthwork remains and they are a scheduled monument.[2]

Description

Only slight earthwork remains exist today, although excavations in the middle 1930 revealed a square well and some datable material from the 16th and 17th centuries including farthings from the reign of Charles I. Later, twelfth century pottery was found on the site.[3]

History

The small Norman castle, built to protect the strategically useful village of South Cerney along the river Churn, was identified by Bazeley and Kennen, and accepted by other historians as the one built by Miles of Gloucester during the Anarchy and captured by King Stephen's forces in 1139,[4] [5][6] but the record of this is uncertain and Renn suggested that Ashton Keynes Castle was the more likely site for these events, [7] and King mentions that this castle is frequently confused with a castle in Cerne Abbas, Dorset and a lost castle in Calne, Wiltshire.[8]

The subsequent fate of the castle is unknown.[3]

Notes

  1. ↑ English Heritage staff 2001, Monument No. 216679 cites King 1983, p. 181
  2. ↑ English Heritage staff 2012, LeN: 1003422.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 English Heritage staff 2001, Monument No. 216679.
  4. ↑ English Heritage staff 2001, Monument No. 216679 cites Bazeley & 1878-9 page-381; and Kennen 1931, p. 55
  5. ↑ Rushford & Knowles 1931, p. 55.
  6. ↑ Walker 1991, p. 15.
  7. ↑ English Heritage staff 2001, Monument No. 216679 cites Renn 1968, p. 314
  8. ↑ Davis 2012, "South Cerney Castle cites King 1983, p. 181

References

  • English Heritage staff (2001), MONUMENT NO. 216679, PastScape operated by English Heritage 
  • English Heritage staff (24 November 2012), South Cerney castle (LeN: 1003422) 
    • Bazeley, W (1878-9), Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 3, p. 381 
    • King, David J Cathcart (1983), Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands. Volume I : Anglesey - Montgomery 1, p. 181 
    • Kennen, F (1931), Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 53, p. 55 
    • Renn, D F (1968), Norman Castles in Britain 
  • Davis, Philip (26 September 2012), South Cerney Castle, Gatehouse-Gazettee 
  • Knowles (1931), "Proceedings at the Annual Meeting held at Cirencester", Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 52 
  • Walker, David (1991), "Gloucestershire Castles", Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 109 

Further reading

  • Sewell, Richard Clarke (1846), Gesta Stephani, regis Anglorum et ducis Normannorum, incerto auctore sed contemporaneo, olim ex vetere codice m.s. episcopatûs Laudunensis ab Andrea Duchesne edita, Londini, Sumptibus societatis, pp. 58–61  primary Latin historical source for the mention of this castle in the Anarchy (see page 59).


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