Swavesey Castle Hill (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Swavesey.
In the historic county of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely.
Modern Authority of Cambridgeshire.
1974 county of Cambridgeshire.
Medieval County of Cambridgeshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL359689
Latitude 52.30167° Longitude -0.00769°

Swavesey Castle Hill has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Probably built by de la Zouch family in C13 as emergency against Barons in Isle of Ely who had burnt their corn etc. The area enclosed was bigger than ever needed for development in Medieval times (Ravensdale 1982-3)

No mention of Swavesey castle has been found before 1476, when William Copley held Castle croft of the rectory manor for boonworks and suit of court, services characteristic of tenures on that manor in 1279. It is therefore unlikely that the castle was built by the Zouches in the 13th century. It was not mentioned among the priory's original endowments and was more probably one of its acquisitions c. 1200. It was presumably derelict by c. 1200 when the croft, later known as Castle close, an enclosure c. 114 m. (375 ft.) square, was incorporated into the town defences. It may date, like Burwell castle, from the 1140s or may have been built during the campaign against Ely in 1070-1. (VCH 1989)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1006913, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number cb37
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 369073.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 01772.

Books
- Lowerre, A.G., 2007, 'A GIS Analysis of the Location of Late-Eleventh-Century Castles in the Southeastern Midlands of England' in' Clark, J.T. and E.M. Hagemeister (eds.) Digital Discovery. Exploring New Frontiers in Human Heritage (Archaeolingua) p. 239-252 online copy
  Lowerre, A.G., 2005, Placing Castles in the Conquest. Landscape, Lordship and Local Politics in the South-Eastern Midlands, 1066-1100 (Oxford: John and Erica Hedges Ltd: BAR British Series 385) p. 233-4
  Taylor, A., 1998, Archaeology of Cambridgeshire Vol. 2: South East Cambridgeshire and the Fen Edge (Cambridge) p. 86
  Wright, A.P.M. and Lewis, C.P. (eds), 1989, VCH Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely Vol. 9 p. 381-6 online transcription
  Taylor, Alison, 1986, Castles of Cambridgeshire (Cambridge)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 40, lxv
  Phillips, 1948, in Salzman, L.F. (ed), VCH Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely Vol. 2 p. 41-2, 315-9
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, _Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
Periodical Articles
- Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 143 p. 310
  Haigh, D.. 1985, 'Excavation of the Town Ditch at Swavesey, 1984' Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society Vol. 73 p. 45-53 online copy
  Ravensdale, J.R., 1984, 'Swavesey, Cambridgeshire: a fortified medieval planned market town' Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society Vol. 72 p. 55-8 online copy
  Clark, G.T., 1881, 'The castles of England and Wales at the Latter part of the Twelfth Century' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 38 p. 258-76, 336-35 esp. 268 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Lowerre, A.G., 2004, Placing Castles in the Conquest. Landscape, Lordship and Local Politics in the South-Eastern Midlands, 1066-1100 (PhD thesis: Boston College) p. 496-8
  Cambridgeshire Extensive Urban Survey: Swavesey Draft Report 15/01/2001 online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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