Old Warden Quince Hill (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Quints Hill

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

OS Map Grid Reference: TL136445
Latitude 52.08740° Longitude -0.34244°

Old Warden Quince Hill has been described as a certain Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Comments

The VCH writes "At the time of the Domesday Survey OLD WARDEN MANOR was held by William Spech as a manor of 9 hides. It formed part of the barony of Warden, which was created before 1166. After the death in 1153 of Walter Espec, certainly the descendant, probably the son, of William Spech, his possessions were divided between his three sisters." The various parts of the manor were eventual reunited in the hands of Warden Abbey, itself founded by Walter Spech.
It would seem likely that the castle was founded by either William or Walter Spech (Espec) possibly at a similar time to the foundation of the Abbey. It probably went out of use on the death of Walter Espec in 1153.
Other than the church there is little settlement now at Old Warden but presumably the church represents the site of a DMV. There is a park nearby.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1010365, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 20411
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 362766.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 972; 14120.

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. 71-2
  Lowerre, A.G., 2008, 'Why here and not there? The Location of Early Norman Castles in the South-East East Midlands' in C.P. Lewis (ed), Anglo-Norman Studies 29. Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2006 (Woddbridge) p. 125-6, 135
  Lowerre, A.G., 2007, 'A GIS Analysis of the Location of Late-Eleventh-Century Castles in the Southeastern Midlands of England' in' Clark, J.T. and E.M. Hagemeister (eds.) Digital Discovery. Exploring New Frontiers in Human Heritage (Archaeolingua) p. 239-252 online copy
  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. 221-2
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 15
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 6
  Wadmore, Beauchamp, 1920, The Earthworks of Bedfordshire (Bedford) p. 117-9
  Page, Wm (ed), 1912, VCH Bedfordshire Vol. 3 p. 251-6 (manorial history) online transcription
  Page, Wm (ed), 1908, VCH Bedfordshire Vol. 2 p. 15
  Goddard, A.R., 1904, 'Ancient Earthworks' in Doubleday, H.Arthur and Page, Wm (eds), VCH Bedfordshire Vol. 1 p. 270-1
Periodical Articles
- Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 143 p. 316
  Baker, D., 1982, 'Mottes, Moats and ringworks in Bedfordshire: Beauchamp Wadmore revisited' Château Gaillard Vol. 9-10 p. 35-54
  King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol. 3 p. 90-127
  Dyer, J.F., 1962-3, 'Bedfordshire Earthworks VIII, The Castles: Part One' Bedfordshire magazine Vol. 8 no. 63 p. 270
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. 459-62

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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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