Ampthill Park motte (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Ampthill.
In the historic county of Bedfordshire.
Modern Authority of Bedfordshire.
1974 county of Bedfordshire.
Medieval County of Bedfordshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL033388
Latitude 52.04032° Longitude -0.49572°

Ampthill Park motte has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Possible motte and bailey identified north of Ampthill, beside the Bedford Road. (PastScape)

A roughly circular earthwork on a small knoll. It has been suggested that the earthwork is the remains of a motte and bailey, but it is now thought more likely to be the result of quarrying, or possibly a mid-19th century tree planting feature. (Beds HER)

Underwood has suggested that an earthwork adjacent to Hazelwood Lane to the north of the town is the remains of a motte-and-bailey castle (Underwood 1976, pl. 1). However, its detached position above the town seems an unlikely location for a Norman castle. Christopher Taylor, formerly with the Royal Commission for Historic Monuments, visited the site in 1984 and interpreted it as the remains of quarrying. Angela Simco, however, interpreted the site as a landscape garden feature, possibly a small knoll artificially heightened for tree-planting (HER 2808). (Extensive Urban Survey)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 360033.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 2808.

Books
- Petre, James Scott, 2012, The Castles of Bedfordshire (Lavenham: Lavenham Press for Shaun Tyas) p. 99 (discounted)
  Underwood, A. 1976, Ampthill - a Goodly Heritage (Ampthill) p. 3, pl. 1
Periodical Articles
- Dyer, J.F., 1962-3, 'Bedfordshire Earthworks VIII, The Castles: Part One' Bedfordshire magazine Vol. 8 no. 63 p. 236, 270, 350
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Albion Archaeology, 2002 (edited January 2005), Extensive Urban Survey - Bedfordshire and Luton (Bedfordshire County Council and English Heritage) 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.

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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