Godsborough near Abbotsham (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Goodborough Castle; Godborough Castle; Kenwith Castle; Kenwic Castle

In the civil parish of Northam.
In the historic county of Devonshire.
Modern Authority of Devon.
1974 county of Devon.
Medieval County of Devon.

OS Map Grid Reference: SS43662739
Latitude 51.02430° Longitude -4.23061°

Godsborough near Abbotsham has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

King writes "Nothing known of castle mentioned by Moore." However PastScape records, under the name Goodborough Castle, and at the map ref given "Earthwork ditch and bank of uncertain date crossing a ridge, with a possible entrance way. A single bank and ditch extends north to south for 285yds. The earthwork appears to be hurriedly constructed and to be incomplete. Two mounds have been formed from the upcast of the ditch on the west. It is more likely to be a prehistoric than Medieval earthwork."

Comments

Called Godborough Castle on OS map. Higham writes very doubtful with no convincing documentary or archaeological evidence. This looks like a boundary bank separating some woodland (see 1st edn. OS map). It can be safely assumed that this is Moore's Godsborough Castle, which he wrote was near 'Biddeford'. Indeed the only question here is the reason King had any difficulty identifying the site, since it seems fairly well known. It is most unlikely to be a medieval build or to have had medieval use.
There may some confusion in some records between this site and Kenwith Castle 200m to the west. See Kenwith Castle for full bibliography.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1002640, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number dv927
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 33071.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 474; 50846.

Books
- King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 121 (possible)
  Lysons, D. and S., 1822, 'Antiquities: Camps and earthworks' Magna Britannia Vol. 6 Devon p. 349-353 (as Godborough) online transcription
  Moore, James, 1798, List of the Principal Castles and Monasteries in Great Britain (London) p. 9 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Higham, R.A., 1988, 'Devon Castles: an annotated list' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol. 46 p. 142-9
  Rogers, I., 1948, 'The Invasion of North Devon by Hubba the Dane in the Year 878' Transactions of the Devonshire Association Vol. 80 p. 125
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Historic England, 2016, Heritage at Risk South West Register 2016 (London: Historic England) p. 110 online copy
  Historic England, 2015, Heritage at Risk South West Register 2015 (London: Historic England) p. 112 online copy
  English Heritage, 2014, Heritage at Risk Register 2014 South West (London: English Heritage) p. 116 online copy
  English Heritage, 2013, Heritage at Risk Register 2013 South West (London: English Heritage) p. 111 online copy
  English Heritage, 2012, Heritage at Risk Register 2012 South West (London: English Heritage) p. 127 online copy
  English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 South West (London: English Heritage) p. 115 online copy
  English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 South West (London: English Heritage) p. 109 online copy
  English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009 South West (London: English Heritage) p. 116 online copy
  Higham, R.A., 1979, The Castles of Medieval Devon (University of Exeter PhD Thesis) Downloadable from EThOS

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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.

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