Blenheim Park (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SP43851730
Latitude 51.85258° Longitude -1.36475°

Blenheim Park has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

Probable motte and bailey of adulterine castle which accounts for small size, lack of documentation and location in Civil War between Stephen and matilda. Slope break defines rampart, and motte entrance and ramp are visible. Insufficient information to identify this as a castle or motte for MPP. Probable motte and bailey of adulterine castle (which accounts for small size, lack of documentation, and location in the Civil War between Stephen and Matilda). Break in slope defining ramparts and motte is clearly visible, as is location of entrance and ramp. Site identified as being similar to Ascott Earl motte at Ascott-under-Wychwood. Based on Wessex Archaeology field visit to site, it was determined to be extant, but threatened by footpath at base and trees. (Oxfordshire HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 2564.

Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Wessex Archaeology, 2006, Blenheim Palace, Heritage Management Plan

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

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.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
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