Weston Park, Saintbury (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Saintbury.
In the historic county of Gloucestershire.
Modern Authority of Gloucestershire.
1974 county of Gloucestershire.
Medieval County of Gloucestershire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SP12513902
Latitude 52.04943° Longitude -1.81897°

Weston Park, Saintbury has been described as a probable Timber Castle, and also as a Masonry Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

A possible motte and bailey at SP 12513902 built on the end of a ridge with excellent views to the N. A sandy knoll rising 10.0m above the surrounding ground has been artificially scarped, and around its base is a ditch averaging from 1.0 to 2.0m deep. A mound with a maximum height of 2.7m has been formed at the N end and its summit has diameters of 6.0 and 8.0m.
Along the SE edge of the knoll are traces of walling 12.0m in length. S of the mound on the summit of the knoll are two circular hollows, which may or may not be original features. There are indications that the knoll has been quarried in recent times along its west side. SW of the site is a crescentic bank which might be taken for a covering work, but is almost certainly spoil from a nearby recently constructed pond (F1 DJC 11-APR-73). (PastScape)

Comments

Appears to have been first recorded by an OS archaeologist, as a map annotation, in 1936 but never published and not recorded by the usual castle gazetteers (i.e D.J.C. King; Renn). Isolated location within Weston Park. The form, two embanked mounds, is superficially like that of a motte, but the pairing of two mounds is not known at any other castle. Possibly a park feature (a viewing platform?) rather than a castle. Rudder reports a park is mentioned in 15 Elizabeth (1548-9) associated with the Giffard manor house at Weston sub-Edge. Did this have an earlier precursor. However, it should also be noted that Rudder writes "It is said the hundred court was formerly kept on the top of the hill, above the village {of Weston Subedge}" and, if this report is accurate, this may well then be the site of that hundred court house and, therefore, a castle site.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 330610.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 2434.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- CastlesFortsBattle.co.uk
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
Books
- Rudder, S., 1779, A new history of Gloucestershire p. 810, 811 online copy (large file)

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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.
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