Oakham Castle

Description

Oakham castle occupies a central position in the former county town of Rutland, now part of Leicestershire. The castle complex comprises a standing great hall and the remains of a motte or mound inside a square inner bailey. To the north of this is a large rectangular outer bailey known as Cutts Close which contains dry fishponds and garden earthworks. The inner castle bailey measures approximately 140 x 140m in overall dimensions. The great hall is situated close to its western boundary, and consists of an aisled building measuring 20 x 13m internally, and is built of ironstone rubble with cut stone dressings. The inner bailey is delimited by a curtain wall dating to the 13th century. On the inside, a bank, consisting of grassed-over collapsed stone and rubble, slopes up to the wall and the remains of two towers or bastions can be identified on the western side. In the south east corner is the castle motte adjoining the enclosure wall at its highest point. It stands to a height of about 6m and has a surrounding ditch which is up to lm deep and 8-10m wide. The ground surface of the bailey is uneven, signifying the foundations of buildings, many of which are known from documentary evidence. The gateway on the south side, is still in use, although it has been rebuilt many times. To the north, the outer bailey known as Cutts Close contains earthworks of gardens and fishponds which are mentioned in 14th century documents. A substantial bank, up to 2m high, surrounds the perimeter of the outer bailey and also forms the fishponds. Oakham was the administrative centre of the manor of Oakham, with its courts and system of self government, and also the emerging county of Rutland. The hall of Oakham castle is listed in Domesday book and would have been represented at that time by a wooden building. The stone-built hall which survives today was built by Walkelin de Ferrers between 1180 and 1190. A 14th century document describes the castle in detail with a garden, fishponds and a moat. The period 1372-1386 is particularly rich in recorded detail with accounts of work done and grants made, but by 1521 the castle appears to have been in decline with much except the hall, which was used as a law court, in ruin. An engraving of 1684 shows the hall freestanding inside the castle enclosure, as it is today. There have been a number of archaeological excavations, that of 1953 confirming that the inner bailey was moated. In 1989 an archaeological evaluation of Cutts Close indicated that the south west bank was pre Norman. (Scheduling Report)

The castle complex comprises a standing great hall and the remains of a motte inside a square inner bailey. To the north of this is a large rectangular outer bailey known as Cutts Close which contains dry fishponds and garden earthworks. The inner castle bailey measures 140 x 140m in overall dimensions. The great hall is situated close to its western boundary, and consists of an aisled building built of ironstone rubble. The inner bailey is delimited by a curtain wall dating to C13. On the inside, a bank, consisting of grassed-over collapsed stone rubble, slopes up to the wall and the remains of two towers or bastions can be identified on the western side. In the south east corner is the castle motte and stands to a height of about 6m. The hall of Oakham Castle is listed in the Domesday book. The stone built hall which survives today was built by Walkelin de Ferrers between 1180 and 1190. (PastScape)

Comments

The Great Hall of Oakham Castle remains in occasional use as a court of law. A function it has probably continuously had since it was built. The 1305 Survey of the people of Oakham shows how many citizen owed a regular 'suit of court' requirement to attend the court, presumably not just to see the law in progress but to act as witnesses and jurors. I also suspect that much of the 'castle guard' service required of local knights would be to participate in court proceedings as court security (such officials still often retain medieval names such as marshall or bailiff). The same 1305 survey shows the amounts of rents and taxes people owed and these had to be paid, in coin and in person, probably in the castle with a clerk recording payment. That is the main function of Oakham Castle, as with most county town castles and many other castles, was as a centre of legal and political administration which played an active part in the lives of all medieval people.