Bloxham Upper Grove Mill (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SP45323707
Latitude 52.02989° Longitude -1.34019°

Bloxham Upper Grove Mill has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Original ONB destroyed. Revision ONB says briefly that this Castle was erected in the reign of Stephen and its site is marked by a few irregularities, siting Original ONB as only authority. No other references found. (Ordnance Survey Map)
The site is in the NW corner of a rectangular orchard, bounded on east, south and west by a scarp up to 1.5m. high; beyond this is a
terrace which extends to another scarp (that published) which is also up to 1.5m. high. Both the scarps, and other minor irregularities, are probably agricultural. There is nothing to suggest that there was ever a castle. In the absence of documentary and ground evidence the 'Castle' is very suspect. (F1 ANK 08-MAY-70)
An earthwork near Upper Grove Mill, marked as a castle on O.S. 25" 1st.ed. of 1882, has not been excavated and its date is not known. (VCH). (PastScape)

Earthwork marked as castle on 1:2500 OS map, 1882, but not excavated and date unknown (VCH)
May represent the site of the 'Logge' leased with a warren in 1528, if this is not the same site as present Bloxham Grove (PRN 11121) or may alternatively represent the farmstead of Osbert de la Grave, who owned a mill in Bloxham in 1238. No evidence that Bloxham Grove itself existed before C16th-17th (Gelling)
1961 AP shows further earthworks in field immediately to east (see PRN 1767)
Castle reputedly erected in reign of Stephen; site is marked by few irregularities. No other references found. Ground disturbances are explainable as agricultural. In the absence of documentary and ground evidence, the 'castle' is very suspect (OS record Card) (Oxfordshire HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 336998.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 5425.

Books
- Mason, J.F.A., 1969, in Lobel, Mary D. and Crossley, Alan (eds), VCH Oxfordshire Vol. 9 p. 55 online transcription
  Gelling, Margaret, based on material collected by Doris Mary Stenton, 1954, The Place-Names of Oxfordshire (English Place Name Society) Part 2 p. 395
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 1 p. 167 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.
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