Biggleswade Ringwork (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Old Warden

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

OS Map Grid Reference: TL18434452
Latitude 52.08595° Longitude -0.27303°

Biggleswade Ringwork has been described as a certain Timber Castle.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

The earthwork and cropmark remains of a medieval ringwork and bailey castle together with a complex of other buried ditches and enclosures on a low gravel island to the west of Biggleswade. The site was initially identified from the air in 1954. Some rescue excavation was undertaken in 1962 in advance of the A1 Biggleswade by-pass. The site appears to date from the century or so after the Norman Conquest. Finds included pottery and evidence for wattle & daub and timber structures. Ordnance Survey field investigation in 1968 suggested that only the central mound and faint traces of the encircling ditch were still visible on the ground. The remainder had been levelled by the plough. (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1010115, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 20414
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 362741.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 468.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Wikipedia entry
Books
- Petre, James Scott, 2012, The Castles of Bedfordshire (Lavenham: Lavenham Press for Shaun Tyas) p. 70-1
  Edgeworth, M., 2007, 'The Medieval Period' in M. Oake et al, Bedfordshire Archaeology. Research and Archaeology: Resource Assessment, Research Agenda and Strategy (Bedfordshire Archaeology Monograph 9) p. 99
  Lowerre, A.G., 2005, Placing Castles in the Conquest. Landscape, Lordship and Local Politics in the South-Eastern Midlands, 1066-1100 (Oxford: John and Erica Hedges Ltd: BAR British Series 385) p. 127 (an Anarchy castle built by Bishop Alexander)
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 12
  Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p. 355
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 5
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 188
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 110
  Herbert Fowler, G., 1922, Bedfordshire in 1086: An analysis and synthesis of Domesday book (Quarto memoirs of the Bedfordshire historical record society 1) p. 14, 42, 97
Periodical Articles
- Baker, D., 1982, 'Mottes, Moats and ringworks in Bedfordshire: Beauchamp Wadmore revisited' Château Gaillard Vol. 9-10 p. 35-54
  1966, Antiquity Vol. 40 p. 143
  Addyman, P.V., 1966, 'A Ringwork and Bailey at Biggleswade, Bedfordshire' Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 3 p. 15-18 online copy (large file)
  1966, Antiquity Vol. 40 p. 143
  1961, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 5 p. 259 download copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Historic England, 2016, Heritage at Risk East of England Register 2016 (London: Historic England) p. 14 online copy
  Historic England, 2015, Heritage at Risk East of England Register 2015 (London: Historic England) p. 14 online copy
  English Heritage, 2014, Heritage at Risk Register 2014 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 15 online copy
  English Heritage, 2013, Heritage at Risk Register 2013 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 15 online copy
  English Heritage, 2012, Heritage at Risk Register 2012 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 32 online copy
  English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 31 online copy
  English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 28 online copy
  English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 39 online copy
  Lowerre, A.G., 2004, Placing Castles in the Conquest. Landscape, Lordship and Local Politics in the South-Eastern Midlands, 1066-1100 (PhD thesis: Boston College) p. 441-3
  Albion Archaeology, 2003 (edited January 2005), Extensive Urban Survey - Bedfordshire and Luton (Bedfordshire County Council and English Heritage) Download copy

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.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

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