Radford Semele (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Radford Semele.
In the historic county of Warwickshire.
Modern Authority of Warwickshire.
1974 county of Warwickshire.
Medieval County of Warwickshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SP349620
Latitude 52.25507° Longitude -1.49015°

Radford Semele has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are uncertain remains.

Comments

Possible a reference to some earlier building on site of Radford Hall, which was the manor house, at SP341647. However Gatehouse suspects this was a reference to a supposed large mound, at Frizmore Hill on the Fosse Way NW of Ufton, described by Burgess as a barrow. If this and if this was on the Fosse then just possibly used as a motte as part of control of a major route - although such military use is highly conjectural, based on military views of Norman rule and not much supported by actual evidence. Nothing in either Dugdale or the VCH suggests a castle at Radford Semele. Nothing in PastScape or Warwickshire HER to support a barrow at Frizmore Hill.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 522086.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 821; 1902.

Books
- King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 486 (possible)
  Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1951, VCH Warwickshire Vol. 6 p. 200- online transcription
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Burgess J T., 1876, Historic Warwickshire p. 227-8 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Dugdale, Wm., 1656, The Antiquities of Warwickshire (Thomas Warren) p. 291-3 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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