Eaton Socon Cage

]]Hugh de Beauchamp was a Norman landowner, installed during the Norman Conquest, and based in Bedford. He acquired the manor of Eaton (present-day Eaton Socon) in about 1120 and it was probably he who built Eaton Socon castle. From 1139 to 1153 there was civil war in England as Stephen and Matilda contested the throne. Matilda had been nominated as successor to his throne by her father, King Henry I. While many of the barons were content with this, several of them objected to the succession, partly because she was a woman and partly because they disliked her husband, Geoffrey de Plantagenet. Accordingly they called on Henry's nephew Stephen to take the throne in her place. Armed conflict…

The castle was a Norman double enclosure, whose construction required the demolition of houses occupied by Anglo-Saxons. It was surrounded by a moat supplied with water diverted from the adjacent River Great Ouse. It was once in possession of the de Mandeville family, but by 1156 it was held by the descendants of Hugh de Beauchamp. An early plan shows that the castle layout was complex. Historic England describe the castle: <blockquote>Castle Hills is a Norman ringwork castle overlying part of a late Saxon vill and medieval village which was deserted, at least in part, to make way for the stronghold. The ringwork was used subsequently as the site of a windmill. The monument is situated on a…