Totternhoe Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Description

The motte comprises a conical mound surrounded by a broad ditch on all but the south west side. It is enclosed between two baileys. The smaller, western bailey is oval in plan and defined by a bank, while the eastern bailey is triangular in plan with a well shaft, known as the 'Money Pit' towards its west side. The third bailey lies immediately to the east. It is rectangular in plan and extends eastward along the spur. The earliest written reference to the castle dates from between 1170 and 1176. The medieval quarries lie on the hillside below and to the north and north west of the motte. They survive as a series of infilled pits, spoil heaps and extraction scars. East of the castle, a series of cultivation terraces or lynchets can be seen. These descend 30 metres from the 152 metre contour, forming steps which average 3 metres in height and terraces roughly 5 metres wide. A geophysical survey undertaken in 2001 indicated a buried trackway, running from the western arm of the outer bailey towards a track which still follows the upper terrace. It is thought that these lynchets may have developed during occupation of the castle. (PastScape–ref. Scheduling report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1020772, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 23401
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 346559.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 533.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Wikipedia entry
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
Books
- Petre, James Scott, 2012, The Castles of Bedfordshire (Lavenham: Lavenham Press for Shaun Tyas) p. 81, 83-5, 87
  Lowerre, A.G., 2008, 'Why here and not there? The Location of Early Norman Castles in the South-East East Midlands' in C.P. Lewis (ed), Anglo-Norman Studies 29. Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2006 (Woddbridge) p. 126
  Lowerre, A.G., 2007, 'A GIS Analysis of the Location of Late-Eleventh-Century Castles in the Southeastern Midlands of England' in' Clark, J.T. and E.M. Hagemeister (eds.) Digital Discovery. Exploring New Frontiers in Human Heritage (Archaeolingua) p. 239-252 online copy
  Lowerre, A.G., 2005, Placing Castles in the Conquest. Landscape, Lordship and Local Politics in the South-Eastern Midlands, 1066-1100 (Oxford: John and Erica Hedges Ltd: BAR British Series 385) p. 225-6
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 17
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 4
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 7
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 309
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 357
  Wadmore, Beauchamp, 1920, The Earthworks of Bedfordshire (Bedford) p. 139-144
  Allcroft, A. Hadrian, 1908, Earthwork of England (London) p. 416-7 online copy
  Goddard, A.R., 1904, 'Ancient Earthworks' in Doubleday, H.Arthur and Page, Wm (eds), VCH Bedfordshire Vol. 1 p. 293-4
  Lysons, D. and S., 1806, Magna Britannia Vol. 1 p. 35
Periodical Articles
- 2004, Journal of the Manshead Archaeological Society of Dunstable Vol. 43 p. 21-2
  Marshall, G., 2002, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter Vol. 32 p. 9 (underlying Iron Age/Roman) online copy
  Baker, D., 1982, 'Mottes, Moats and ringworks in Bedfordshire: Beauchamp Wadmore revisited' Château Gaillard Vol. 9-10 p. 35-54 (plan)
  1973, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter Vol. 3 p. 4 online copy
  Manshead Archaeological Society, 1971, 'Totternhoe Castle, Beds.' South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter Vol. 1 p. 15 online copy
  Dyer, J.F., 1962-3, 'Bedfordshire Earthworks VIII, The Castles: Part One' Bedfordshire magazine Vol. 8 no. 63 p. 345-6
  1962, Journal of the Manshead Archaeological Society of Dunstable Vol. 8 p. 132-3
  Clark, G.T., 1889, 'Contribution towards a complete list of moated mounds or burhs' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 46 p. 197-217 esp. 200 online copy
  Clark, 1875, The Builder Vol. 33 p. 233
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Historic England, 2016, Heritage at Risk East of England Register 2016 (London: Historic England) p. 15 online copy
  Historic England, 2015, Heritage at Risk East of England Register 2015 (London: Historic England) p. 15 online copy
  English Heritage, 2014, Heritage at Risk Register 2014 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 16 online copy
  English Heritage, 2013, Heritage at Risk Register 2013 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 17 online copy
  English Heritage, 2012, Heritage at Risk Register 2012 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 33 online copy
  English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 32 online copy
  English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 29 online copy
  English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 40 online copy
  Lowerre, A.G., 2004, Placing Castles in the Conquest. Landscape, Lordship and Local Politics in the South-Eastern Midlands, 1066-1100 (PhD thesis: Boston College) p. 476-79
  EH Scheduling amendment, 09-SEP-2003

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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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