Ellington Thorpe Lodge (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Sibthorpe

In the civil parish of Ellington.
In the historic county of Huntingdonshire.
Modern Authority of Cambridgeshire.
1974 county of Cambridgeshire.
Medieval County of Huntingdonshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL15577039
Latitude 52.31950° Longitude -0.30587°

Ellington Thorpe Lodge has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

Thorpe Lodge moat encloses an area of 180 x 130 feet with rounded corners. On the W and S are bold outer banks with crests c 35ft from the side of the moat. From the S side of the outer bank, a dyke runs 50ft to the S, then turns E and empties into the dyke by the hedge. About 140ft from the NE corner of the moat, but separated from it by a hedge and large dyke is a subsidiary enclosure of unusual shape being 250ft x 35ft.From the SW corner of this moat a dyke runs S for 400 feet (with bank on the W side) and then turns W and empties into a dyke by the hedge. (Camb HER report abstracted from VCH 1926)

The moated enclosure was excavated in 1965 prior to destruction by the farmer, revealing the complete plan of a aisled timber building with a plain tile roof. The building was built in the mid C12 and destroyed or demolished during the 2nd half of C13. The structure was then sealed by a moated platform, occupation of which ceased in C15. Numerous finds were made of pottery, iron, bronze and bones. (Tebbutt et al 1971)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 363711.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 00757.

Books
- Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker)
  Page, Wm , Proby, Granville and Ladds, S. Inskip (eds), 1936, VCH Huntingdonshire Vol. 3 p. 44
  Inskip Ladds, S., 1926, in Page, Wm and Proby, Granville (eds), VCH Huntingdonshire Vol. 1 p. 297 view unattributed online copy
  RCHME, 1926, An inventory of the historical monuments in Huntingdonshire p. 76 no. 3 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Tebbutt, C.F., Rudd, G.T. and Moorhouse, S., 1971, 'Excavation of a Moated Site at Ellington, Huntingdonshire' Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society Vol. 63 p. 31-73 online copy
  Tebbutt, C.F. and Rudd, G.T., 1966, 'Medieval Britain in 1965: II Post-conquest' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 10 p. 202 download copy

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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.

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