Wavendon (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Wavendon.
In the historic county of Buckinghamshire.
Modern Authority of Milton Keynes.
1974 county of Buckinghamshire.
Medieval County of Buckinghamshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SP91933714
Latitude 52.02504° Longitude -0.66161°

Wavendon 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

Probably windmill stance. A turf covered mound situated in a level field under permanent pasture, contiguous with rig and furrow. It is flat topped, 2.4m high, bounded by a dry ditch, 0.6m deep, and measures circa 30.0m overall diameter. The ditch is mutilated by cattle tread on the West side, and a causeway crosses on the south side to form an inclined ramp to the summit. It is suggested that the site may be a motte or adulterine castle, apparently abandoned in C13. (PastScape)

A bowl barrow, 60 ft in diameter and 7 ft high, surrounded by a ditch which is crossed by a causeway on the S. (RCHME) Excavated by R W Griffiths in 1963 and found to be a small motte, occupied for a short period, and dismantled in the 13th c. (Griffiths) A turf covered mound situated in a level field under permanent pasture, contiguous with rig and furrow. It is flat topped, 2.4m high, bounded by a dry ditch, 0.6m deep, and measures c 30.0m overall diameter. The ditch is mutilated by cattle tread on the W side, and a causeway crosses on the S side to form an inclined ramp to the summit. There is no trace of Griffiths excavation. There is considerable doubt that this mound is a motte for the following reasons:-
1. Its small size
2. The narrow shallow ditch does not appear defensive
3. A lack of documentary evidence for a defence
4. Existence of a ramp.
Mr D C Mynard state that Griffiths excavation was of a minor nature and inconclusive. To his knowledge no conclusive evidence was found to support classification as a motte. Griffiths has left the area and cannot be contacted. The mound is probably a windmill mound; the inclined ramp supports the supposition. (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1011301, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 19082
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 346636.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MMK166; MMK169.

Books
- Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 37
  Marney, P.T. and Mynard, D.C., 1989, Roman and Belgic pottery : from excavations in Milton Keynes, 1972-1982 (Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society Monograph 2) p. 313
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 28
  RCHME, 1913, An inventory of the historical monuments in Buckinghamshire Vol. 2 (north) p. 313 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Griffiths, R.W., 1968, 'Excavations on the mound at Wavendon, September 1963' Journal of Wolverton and District Archaeological Society Vol. 1 p. 29-31

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
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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