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WARWICKSHIRE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT RECORD
Information for record number WA3200
Site Name and
Summary
Phase one of the building of Kenilworth Castle shows that it was
originally built as a motte and bailey Castle from 1122 onwards . The
motte is still visible as an earthwork, inside the later great keep.
Type:
Period:
Castle, Motte, Bailey, Motte And Bailey, Findspot, Feature
Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Location
Parish:
District:
Grid Reference:
Kenilworth
Warwick, Warwickshire
SP 27 72
Level of Protection
Old SMR PrefRef Monument (Grade: 04/01/1996)
Description
Source Number
1 The stone castle is built on the remains of an earlier mount and court fort, some of the
earth foundations of which are still traceable. The spot where the castle stands is well
chosen for defensive purposes; it is a knoll of rock and gravel forming a headland just below
the junction of two streams. Upon this strong site a mount and court fort of earth and timber
was constructed. The original moated mound was probably close to John of Gaunt's Hall, or
alternatively on the site of the Norman keep. The keep still encloses within its walls an
artificial mount about 3 to 4.6m high. The inner ward of the later castle probably occupies the
site of the courtyard and is about 0.53 ha in extent. The ground falls steeply on all sides
except the E where there is a deep ditch. The early castle may have had a secondary
courtyard of 3.1 ha.
2 Geoffrey de Clinton may have been the first to build here soon after 1122. It has been
argued that a motte and bailey castle existed first, but for this there is no evidence. The keep
may represent the first phase.
3 The masonry keep is probably late 12th century and could postdate a motte and bailey
castle. An excavation in 1960 indicated that the outer ditch was either dug or cleaned out in
the 12th century and located a post hole, possibly from a Norman palisade.
4 Ancient Monument List. Previously Scheduled as Warwickshire Monument No 1.
5 SAM List.
6 Listed Building List. An important early 12th century keep. The late 14th century
banqueting hall is comparable with Westminster Hall. There are associations with John of
Gaunt and Queen Elizabeth I.
7 excavations at Leicester's Stables (which is built against the curtain wall between Lunn's
Tower and the Water Tower) revealed 5 phases of building spanning the 13th to 20th
centuries.
8 Plans.
9 Brief details of unpublished excavations in the Kitchen area (1938); Gaunts Tower (1956);
the Gallery Tower (1968); and west of the hall (1983).
10 Watching brief south of the Swan Tower by Warwick Museum in March 1990.
11 Revised Scheduling information.
12 Observation of 2 areas to the north and south of the Gatehouse revealed the west face of
the 16th century moat bridge, together with demolition material associated with the slighting
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of the castle in 1651. An undated floor or trackway were recorded close to Mortimer's Tower
and garden features associated with the 17th to 20th century domestic occupation of the
Gatehouse were recorded.
13 A fine stone oil lamp found in 1848 at the castle. The lamp has a reservoir for oil in
which a wick would be floated, this is of a type called a cresset lamp, in use in the medieval
period.
14 A programme of resistivity survey and Ground Penetrating Radar Survey centred upon
SP 280 722 recorded several anomalies which had a high potential to be of archaeological
origin. These included high and low resistance area anomalies, complex Ground Penetrating
Radar responses and inclined events. Due to the small area of the survey the significance of
these features is unknown and may require further investigation.
Sources
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4
Bibliographic reference
AM7
DoE
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Title:
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Date:
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Volume/Sheet:
1
Bibliographic reference
Victoria County History, vol 1, Warwickshire
Doubleday H A & Page W (eds)
1904
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Title:
Author/Originator:
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
10
Bibliographic reference
Bibliographic reference
Jones R
1990
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Title:
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Volume/Sheet:
13
Bibliographic reference
TBAS vol 58 Stone Implements of Warwickshire
Shotton FW
1934
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6
Descriptive Text
LBL
DoE
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Source Type:
3
Excavation Report
1
58
All Information (c) Warwickshire County Council
Title:
Author/Originator:
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TBAS vol 81
Rahtz P
1963
55-73
81
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Title:
14
Geophysical Survey Report
A Report for English Heritage on a Geophysical Survey Carried out at
Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire
Stratascan
2003
Author/Originator:
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Observation Report
Archaeological Observation of Test Pits at Kenilworth Castle Mere,
Warwickshire
Jones C
1999
12
Observation Report
Archaeological Observation in the Outer Court of Kenilworth Castle,
Warwickshire
Coutts C & Jones C
2001
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8
Plan
TBAS vol 99
Ellis P
1995
81-116
99
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2
Serial
TBAS vol 67
Chatwin P B
1947
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Title:
Author/Originator:
Date:
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Volume/Sheet:
7
Serial
TBAS vol 99
Ellis P
1995
100-102
99
67
All Information (c) Warwickshire County Council
Source No:
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9
Serial
TBAS vol 99
Ellis P
1995
100-102
99
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11
Scheduling record
SAM Description
English Heritage
1996
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Title:
Author/Originator:
Date:
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Volume/Sheet:
5
Scheduling record
SAM list
DoE
1985
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21578
Unpublished document
Transaction Record for the Compton Verney Estate
Eglington, Samuel (?)
1769
Word or Phrase
Listed Building
Description
Buildings and structures, such as bridges, that are of architectural or
historical importance are placed on a statutory list. These buildings
are protected by planning and conservation acts that ensure that their
special features of interest are considered before any alterations are
made to them.
on how important the buildings are they are classed as Grade I, Grade
II* or Grade II. Grade I buildings are those of exceptional interest.
Grade II* are particularly important buildings of more than special
interest. Those listed as Grade II are those buildings that are
regarded of special interest.
LBL
Listed Building List. Buildings and structures, such as bridges, that
are of architectural or historical importance are placed on a list.
Buildings placed on the list are protected through various planning and
conservation acts which ensure that their special features of interest
are considered before any alterations are made to them. The Listed
Buildings List is compiled and maintained by English Heritage. It
includes details of where the building is, when it was built, a
description of its appearance, and any other special features.
Scheduled Ancient Monument List. A list or schedule of
archaelogical and historic monuments that are considered to be of
Scheduled Ancient
Monument List
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TBAS
Geophysical Survey
Resistivity Survey
Ground Penetrating
Radar
Earthwork
Excavation (also
known as 'digging')
national importance. The list contains a detailed description of each
Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM) and a map showing their
location and extent. By being placed on the schedule, SAMs are
protected by law from any unauthorised distrubance. The list has
been compiled and is maintained by English Heritage. It is updated
periodically.
Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological
Society is a journal produced by the society annually. It contains
articles about archaeological field work that has taken place in
Birmingham and Warwickshire in previous years. Copies of the
journal are kept by the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record.
The measuring and recording of electrical resistivity or magnetism in
order to determine the existence and outline of buried features such
as walls and ditches. Geophysical techniques include resistivity
survey, magnetometer survey and ground penetrating radar.
A resistivity survey measures the electrical resistance of the soil and
any buried features within it. Where there are buried pits and ditches,
there is less resistance to the flow of electricity. Where there are
archaeological remains made from stone, for example a wall, the
resistance is greater. These differences in resistance are measured
and recorded by archaeologists using a resistivity meter. The
measurements can then be used to plot features that exist below the
ground. See also geophysical survey.
Ground-penetrating radar is a geophysical technique that sends
electromagnetic pulses into the ground and records the pattern of their
reflection. A radar antenna is towed along the ground surface and
radar waves are sent into the ground. As they reflect off any
archaeological buried features some of the waves are reflected back
to the surface and are measured by another receiving antenna. The
radar travel times are measured and stored on a computer. The
readings can then be plotted to create a three dimensional picture of
the features below the ground. See also geophysical survey.
Earthworks can take the form of banks, ditches and mounds. They
are usually created for a specific purpose. A bank, for example,
might be the remains of a boundary between two or more fields. Some
earthworks may be all that remains of a collapsed building, for
example, the grassed-over remains of building foundations.
the winter, when the sun is lower in the sky than during the other
seasons, earthworks have larger shadows. From the air,
archaeologists are able to see the patterns of the earthworks more
easily. Earthworks can sometimes be confusing when viewed at
ground level, but from above, the general plan is much clearer.
often carry out an aerial survey or an earthwork survey to help them
understand the lumps and bumps they can see on the ground.
Archaeologists excavate sites so that they can find information and
recover archaeological materials before they are destroyed by
erosion, construction or changes in land-use.
on how complicated and widespread the archaeological deposits are,
excavation can be done by hand or with heavy machinery.
Archaeologists may excavate a site in a number of ways; either by
open area excavation, by digging a test pit or a trial trench.[more]
important part of any archaeological excavation is the recording of
artefacts and deposits with measurements, plans and photographs.
Archaeologists are just as interested in finding information about the
context of artefacts as they are in the artefacts themselves.
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an excavation, archaeologists will recover many kinds of samples. In
addition to recording common artefacts, such as pieces of pottery,
archaeologists take environmental samples. This is done so that they
can find other materials such as pollen, plant parts, human and animal
bone, and shell.
Test Pit
Medieval
A small, exploratory excavation that helps archaeologists to find out
how deep below the ground surface the archaeological layers extend.
They are also dug to discover whether the topsoil contains particular
concentrations of artefacts. Test pits are dug before a large
excavation to determine a site's depth and contents.
1066 AD to 1539 AD (the 11th century AD to the 16th century AD)
medieval period comes after the Saxon period and before the post
medieval period.
Medieval period begins in 1066 AD. was the year that the Normans,
led by William the Conqueror (1066 – 1087), invaded England and
defeated Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in East Sussex.
Medieval period includes the first half of the Tudor period (1485 –
1603 AD), when the Tudor family reigned in England and eventually in
Scotland too.
end of the Medieval period is marked by Henry VIII’s (1509 –
1547) order for the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the years running
up to 1539 AD. The whole of this period is sometimes called the
Middle Ages.[more]
Normans are well known for building the first motte and bailey castles.
There are a number of these in Warwickshire. Brinklow Castle and
Boteler’s Castle, near Alcester, are fine examples. Warwick
Castle and Kenilworth Castle began their long histories as motte and
bailey castles.
Domesday Book was written in the reign of William the Conqueror. It
was completed in about 1086 AD. is a detailed statement of lands held
by the king and his tenants and of the resources that went with those
lands, for example which manors belonged to which estates. Book
was probably put together so that William knew how much tax he was
getting from the country. It provides archaeologists and historians
with a detailed picture of the size of settlements and the population at
the beginning of the medieval period. Many of these settlements
were later deserted as a result of a number of causes, including
changes to land tenure. In other cases the focal point of settlements
physically shifted. Either way, Warwickshire is well known for the
contrast in types of settlement between the Arden area of the north
west and the Feldon area of the south and east. In the Arden area
medieval settlements were of the small, dispersed type, whilst in the
Feldon area the settlements developed into nucleated villages. Some
medieval deserted settlements in Warwickshire can still be traced as
earthworks. A good example exists at Wormleighton.
of medieval farming survive in many parts of Warwickshire as
earthworks of ridge and furrow cultivation. Ridge and furrow
earthworks show where the land was ploughed so that crops could be
grown. The ridges and furrows formed because successive years of
ploughing caused the soil to be drawn up into ridges whilst the furrows
lying between them became deeper. The fields were ploughed using
a team of oxen pulling a small plough, which was very difficult to turn.
This accounts for why the land was ploughed in long strips and why
fields were left open i.e. without hedges, fences or walls dividing up
the land into smaller pockets.
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were much smaller in the medieval period. The people who farmed
the land did not own it. The land belonged to the lord of the manor.
The people farming the land were simply tenants who worked a strip
of land or maybe several strips. This is why medieval farming is
sometimes called strip farming.
the time that Domesday Book was written the only town in what is now
called Warwickshire was Warwick. Documentary evidence shows us
that as the years went on more and more markets appeared in the
county. By 1450 there were forty.
towns that grew around the markets were different from the
surrounding villages in their appearance and the type of people who
lived in them. They were larger than the villages and had a more
complicated network of streets and lanes. The towns had an open
space in the centre where a market was held each week. The
houses and workshops that lined the streets had long narrow strips of
land behind them called tenements. Some historic maps show these
medieval build
PALISADE
An enclosure of stakes driven into the ground, sometimes for
defensive purposes.
SITE
Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type
wherever possible.
BUILDING
A structure with a roof to provide shelter from the weather for
occupants or contents. Use specific type where known.
STONE
Use only where stone is natural or where there is no indication of
function.
KEEP
The major tower of a fortification, often acting as its last defence.
FLOOR
A layer of stone, brick or boards, etc, on which people tread. Use
broader site type where known.
FEATURE
Areas of indeterminate function.
KITCHEN
A building or room where food is prepared and cooked.
GARDEN FEATURE Unspecified landscape feature. Use more specific type where known.
TOWER
A tall building, either round, square or polygonal in plan, used for a
variety of purposes, including defence, as a landmark, for the hanging
of bells, industrial functions, etc. Use more specific type where known.
FORT
A permanently occupied position or building designed primarily for
defence.
MOAT
A wide ditch surrounding a building, usually filled with water. Use for
moated sites, not defensive moats. Use with relevant site type where
known, eg. MANOR HOUSE, GARDEN, etc.
CASTLE
A fortress and dwelling, usually medieval in origin, and often
consisting of a keep, curtain wall and towers etc.
WATER TOWER
A tower serving as a reservoir to deliver water at a required point.
COURTYARD
An uncovered area, surrounded or partially surrounded by buildings.
GATEHOUSE
A gateway with one or more chambers over the entrance arch; the
flanking towers housing stairs and additional rooms. Use with wider
site type where known.
WELL
A shaft or pit dug in the ground over a supply of spring-water.
MUSEUM
A building, group of buildings or space within a building, where objects
of value such as works of art, antiquities, scientific specimens, or other
artefacts are housed and displayed.
BRIDGE
A structure of wood, stone, iron, brick or concrete, etc, with one or
more intervals under it to span a river or other space. Use specific
type where known.
MOTTE AND BAILEY An early form of castle consisting of a flat-top steep-sided earthen
mound, supporting a wooden tower, and a bailey.
DITCH
A long and narrow hollow or trench dug in the ground, often used to
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STABLE
TRACKWAY
STREAM
MOUND
CURTAIN WALL
WALL
POST HOLE
DOMESTIC
EARTHWORK
MOTTE
RESERVOIR
carry water though it may be dry for much of the year.
A building in which horses are accommodated.
A pathway, not necessarily designed as such, beaten down by the feet
of travellers.
A natural flow or current of water issuing from a source.
A natural or artificial elevation of earth or stones, such as the earth
heaped upon a grave. Use more specific type where known.
A wall between two towers or pavilions, usually surrounding a building,
and often forming a major part of the defences.
An enclosing structure composed of bricks, stones or similar
materials, laid in courses. Use specific type where known.
A hole dug to provide a firm base for an upright post, often with stone
packing. Use broader monument type where known.
This is the top term for the class. See DOMESTIC Class List for
narrow terms.
A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification.
An artificial steep-sided earthen mound on, or in, which is set the
principal tower of a castle.
A large natural or artificial body of water, sometimes covered, used to
collect and store water for a particular function, eg. industrial or public
use.
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