Benson (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Bensington

In the civil parish of Benson.
In the historic county of Oxfordshire.
Modern Authority of Oxfordshire.
1974 county of Oxfordshire.
Medieval County of Oxfordshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SU615915
Latitude 51.61993° Longitude -1.11400°

Benson has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such, and also as a Fortified Manor House although is doubtful that it was such.

There are no visible remains.

Description

According to Hearne the castle at Benson stood west of the church, where bones, spurs, bridles, swords etc had been found. Area now built over with modern housing and no remains visible. (Oxfordshire HER)

A considerable earthwork between the Church and the river is mentioned by several old writers. Hearne states that: "The Castle stood on the west side of the present Church, where a few years since a great quantity of Bones, some of which were Humane, and the rest the Bones of several kinds of Animals, besides strange old Spurs, Bridles, Swords, etc., was dug up. And 'tis on this side of the Town where there are still to be seen Tokens of the Ditch that surrounded it in old Time."... In Brewer's "Oxfordshire," 1813, we read: "To the west of the Church are a bank and trench, which seem to have been of a square form. Three sides of the embankment are now much defaced; but the part of the north retains considerable boldness." (Field)

Comments

The location by the church and on the Thames is certainly the location for a manor house. However the tenurial history argues against a manor house. This was a royal manor but not the location of a residential royal manor. It was, by repute, the location of a residence of King Offa. Was this the location of the manorial steward house and court with a later reputation as the site of a Saxon 'castle'? Such a house may well have been moated, although mainly to manage flooding rather than being defensive.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 242024.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 2099.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Oxfordshire's Historic Archives
Books
- Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 79 (slight)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 388
  Brewer, 1813, Oxfordshire
Periodical Articles
- Field, J.E., 1896, 'Benson or Bensington' Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 2 p. 44-5 download copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Hearne, Thomas (ed), 1716, Roper's life of Sir Thomas More p. 260
  Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)

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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.

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