Bretby Castle

Heritage listing

Details The monument includes the core area of the site of Bretby Castle fortified manor and incorporates manorial remains dating from the 13th to the 17th centuries. The visible remains, which occupy a sub-rectangular enclosure of c.3.5 ha, are those of the 16th century manor partially excavated in 1800. The remains of earlier buildings and structures will survive as buried features beneath the earthwork remains of later buildings. The visible remains include, on the west and north sides, a massive outer bank measuring up to 5m high. This bank is flanked on the inside by a ditch-like feature which has, in the past, been inaccurately termed a moat. Although it undoubtedly served as a boundary feature and may have had different functions at different times, in its present form the feature has been reinterpreted as a sunken driveway. This is in part due to the presence of two gateways visible at its southern end. One of these leads southward towards Bretby Park and the other westward towards Home Farm. Although the present day Home Farm was not built until the early 19th century, it is believed to stand on the site of earlier farmsteads belonging to the fortified manor. On the inside, the sunken driveway is flanked by the remains of buildings which reveal that the 16th century manor was built round two courtyards. Although partly masked by numerous mounds of excavation spoil, the layout can be seen to have included a large court to the north and another to the south. Along the south-east edge of the latter, adjacent to the south gate, are the well preserved foundations of three rectangular buildings. These are each roughly 40m long by 15m wide and were previously thought to be fishponds. In fact, there is no evidence for this and several factors, including the lack of a w

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.