Duke of Bedford's Castle

Heritage listing

Details The monument is situated on Castle Hill within the parish of Fulbrook and includes the site known as the Duke of Bedford's Castle. With the exception of brick, tile and pottery scatters on the ground surface of Castle Hill, there is no surface evidence of the quadrangular castle known to be here. However, the site has been identified from aerial photographs which provide valuable information for the layout of the castle which survives as buried remains. The castle occupies an area of less than 0.25ha and does not appear to have been defended by any form of earthwork. It has been built around a central courtyard, or ward, which measures approximately 20m east-west and 15m north-south. The plan of the castle, including its corridors and individual rooms, can be identified from aerial photographs and these masonry structures will survive as buried features below the plough soil. An excavation in c.1790 located a vault or a cellar at the site which is thought to have originally formed the base of a tower. In the 1420s Fulbrook was held by John, Duke of Bedford, who is considered responsible for the construction of the castle. It was located within a park and was described by Leland as 'a praty castle made of stone and brike'. After the Duke's death in 1435, the site passed to Henry VI. By 1478, however, the castle was ruinous. Leland states that the castle ruins were considered an eyesore by the Earls of Warwick and, as a result, it was further demolished by Sir William Crompton, the keeper of Fulbrook Park, during the reign of Henry VIII. MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 5 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation. Legacy The conte

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.