Hamstead Marshall 1 – 'siege' castle (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Hamstead Marshall.
In the historic county of Berkshire.
Modern Authority of West Berkshire.
1974 county of Berkshire.
Medieval County of Berkshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SU42996661
Latitude 51.39688° Longitude -1.38350°

Hamstead Marshall 1 – 'siege' castle has been described as a probable Timber Castle, and also as a probable Siege Work.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Comments

Within the park of Hampstead. The location could be that of a hunting lodge (or even a viewing platform associated with hunting) and not necessarily of a siege castle as it is sometimes described, but there is some evidence that Hamstead Marshall Conquest castle was besieged in 1152 so such a suggestion can not be entirely dismissed and Oliver Creighton does accept this as a C12 siege work. I continue to have some doubt as the unfinished mound does seem to be intended as a mound, rather than as a small ringwork - the form of the certain sieges works of this period (i.e Danes Castle, Exeter and The Rings at Corfe.)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1007925, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 19011
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 233218.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MWB1549.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Britannia America's Gateway to the British Isles since 1996
  David Nash Ford's Historic Buildings of Berkshire
  CastleUK.net
  Abaroth's World
Books
- Duncan Wright, Michael Fradley and Oliver Creighton, 2016, 'Hamstead Marshall, Castle I, Berkshire' in Duncan Wright and Oliver Creighton (eds), Castles, Siegeworks and Settlements Surveying the Archaeology of the Twelfth Century (Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd) p. 82-95
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 21
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 8 (slight)
  Bonney, D.J. and Dunn, C.J., 1989, 'Earthwork castles and settlement at Hamstead Marshall, Berkshire' in Bowden, M., Mackay, D. and Topping, P. (eds), From Cornwall to Caithness: some aspects of British field Archaeology. Papers presented to Norman V Quinnell (Oxford: British Archaeological Reports British Series 209) p. 173-82
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 11
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 199
Periodical Articles
- Duncan Wright, Oliver Creighton, Steven Trick and Michael Fradley, 2015, 'Fieldwork in conflict landscapes: Surveying the archaeology of 'The Anarchy' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 59 p. 313-319
  Edwards, D.M., 2000, 'The mystery of the Hamstead Marshall castles' Postern Vol. 11 p. 22-3
  Higgot, Tony, 1998, 'Is Newbury's Mediaeval Castle at Hamstead Marshall?' Transactions of the Newbury District Field Club Vol 14 No. 2/3 p. 28-29
  Renn, D.F., 1959, 'Mottes: a classification' Antiquity Vol. 33 p. 106-12 (listed as precursor to Hamstead Marshall)
  Grinsell, L.V., 1936, 'An Analysis and List of Berkshire Barrows' Berkshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 40 p. 56 download copy
  Myres, J.N.L., 1932, Transactions of the Newbury District Field Club Vol. 6 p. 114-26 plans
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Linford, N., 1997, Hamstead Marshall Berkshire, Report on geophysical surveys, 1996. (Ancient Monuments Laboratory report 2/97) online 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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