Wambrook Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Wambrook.
In the historic county of Somerset.
Modern Authority of Somerset.
1974 county of Somerset.
Medieval County of Somerset.

OS Map Grid Reference: ST29400706
Latitude 50.85873° Longitude -3.00443°

Wambrook Castle has been described as a Timber Castle but is rejected as such.

There are no visible remains.

Description

The best candidate for the 'castle' in Castle Hill Wood is an enclosure on sloping pasture, the N side being a field boundary removed in the C19. The whole can be seen faintly on the ground and on aerial photographs. (Somerset HER)

ST 29400706. An enclosure in sloping pastureland, faintly visible on the ground and on an A.P. Its north side, a hedgerow, was removed in the 19th century. It is possibly the castle inferred by the name Castle Wood (Carter).
No enclosure is visible in the pasture field. A drainage ditch parallels the western boundary of the field. The ground is uneven and of a poor nature. The combination of the ditch and the general ground condition might have led to the supposition of an earthwork here (F1 NJA 28-JUL-82). (PastScape)

In the extreme south of the parish Castle wood is recorded in 1422, probably the home of Laurence du Chastel in 1311. (VCH)

Very poorly defined earthworks and place name evidence. (Prior 2004. reject)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 190144.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 53256; 55658.

Books
- Dunning, R. (ed), 1978, VCH Somerset Vol. 4 p. 222-36 (tenurial history) online transcription
  Carter, R. Wood, P. and Parmiter, M., 1977, Parish Surveys in Somerset - Wambrook (Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society) p. 13
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Prior, Stuart, 2004, _"Winning Strategies" An Archaeological Study of Norman Castles in the Landscapes of Somerset, Monmouthshire and County Meath, 1066-1186 (PhD thesis; University of Bristol) Vol. 2 p. 128 (reject) Download via EThOS

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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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