Meppershall; The Hills (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Meppenhall; Maperteshalam

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

OS Map Grid Reference: TL13253585
Latitude 52.00952° Longitude -0.35143°

Meppershall; The Hills has been described as a certain Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Motte measuring circa 25.0m by 30.0m, with baileys of irreuglar shape. The surrounding ditches are dry and there appears to be the remains of a contemporary sluice ditch on the North-East side. The motte and bailey are surrounded by the bank and ditch of an outer entrenchment in the form of a rough square enclosing about 30 acres. The whole site is largely devoid of habitation, and this outer enclosure is probably comtemporary with the motte and bailey. This motte may have been one of those besieged by King Stephen in 1138. (PastScape)

Comments

A Charter of King Stephan is given to St. Radegund's Priory during the siege of Meppershall (apud Maperteshalam in obsidione). The dating of this charter, and the siege, is contested. Howlett suggested 1138 but Cronne and Davis suggest a date after 1147. Petre writes it is "unclear as to whether Meppershall was itself besieged or was used as a base by Stephen for a siege he mounted of Bedford."

The caput of the Meppershall family who held the manor as tenant in chief. A family of local importance and occasional royal service in minor positions.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1010370, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 20417
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 362452.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 369.

Books
- Petre, James Scott, 2012, The Castles of Bedfordshire (Lavenham: Lavenham Press for Shaun Tyas) p. 67-9 (plan)
  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. 220-1
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 14
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 4 (slight)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 6
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 259
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 242
  Wadmore, Beauchamp, 1920, The Earthworks of Bedfordshire (Bedford) p. 109-11
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Goddard, A.R., 1904, 'Ancient Earthworks' in Doubleday, H.Arthur and Page, Wm (eds), VCH Bedfordshire Vol. 1 p. 295-6
  Howlett, R. (ed), 1886, Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II, and Richard I (Rolls series 82) Vol. 3 p. 31n online copy
Periodical Articles
- Creighton, O.H., 2004, ''The Rich Man in his Castle, The Poor Man at His Gate': Castle Baileys and Settlement Patterns in Norman England' Château Gaillard Vol. 21 p. 25-36
  Baker, D., 1982, 'Mottes, Moats and ringworks in Bedfordshire: Beauchamp Wadmore revisited' Château Gaillard Vol. 9-10 p. 35-54 (plan)
  Dyer, J.F., 1962-3, 'Bedfordshire Earthworks VIII, The Castles: Part One' Bedfordshire magazine Vol. 8 no. 63 p. 271
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Cronne, H.A. and Davis R.H.C. (eds), 1968, Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum, 1066–1154 Vol. 3 Regesta regis Stephani ac Mathildis imperatricis ac Gaufridi et Henrici ducum Normannorum, 1135-54 p. 51 No. 138 online copy (Charter of Stephan dated apud Maperteshalam in obsidione )
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- 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. 456-7

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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.
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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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