Ringwork castle 80m south west of Castle Farm

Reasons for Designation

Ringworks are medieval fortifications built and occupied from the late Anglo-Saxon period to the later 12th century. They comprised a small defended area containing buildings which was surrounded or partly surrounded by a substantial ditch and a bank surmounted by a timber palisade or, rarely, a stone wall. Occasionally a more lightly defended embanked enclosure, the bailey, adjoined the ringwork. Ringworks acted as strongholds for military operations and in some cases as defended aristocratic or manorial settlements. They are rare nationally with only 200 recorded examples and less than 60 with baileys. As such, and as one of a limited number and very restricted range of Anglo-Saxon and Norman fortifications, ringworks are of particular significance to our understanding of the period.

Castle Yard survives well and is one of only two known examples of this class of monument in Warwickshire. The foundations of medieval structures will survive as buried features within both the ringwork and the bailey, while the accumulated fill of the ringwork and bailey ditches will retain information valuable for an understanding of the environment and economy of the site's inhabitants. Additionally, the buried land surface beneath the ringwork enclosure will retain environmental evidence relating to the landscape in which Castle Yard was constructed.

Details

The monument is situated approximately 80m south west of Castle Farm on the southern outskirts of the village of Fillongley. It includes the masonry and earthwork remains of Castle Yard, a ringwork castle and its associated bailey. The site occupies an area of approximately 2ha and has been constructed on an area of land which is defined by two stream channels. The stream to the north of the ringwork flows west-east and forms the northern boundary to the site, whilst the second stream, situated in the eastern part of the site, flows from east to north. A third stream channel runs through the central part of the site and flows northwards into the stream defining the site's northern edge. The streams are thought to have been diverted at the time of the castle's construction in order to form its southern outer defences. They also provided the water supply for the inner defensive ditches. The ringwork itself, is situated in the western part of the site and is surrounded by a 12m wide ditch which, with the exception of its waterlogged northern section, is mostly dry. The water supply for the ditch originally entered from the west and the south. An external rampart is visible beyond the western, northern and southern sides of the ditch. The ringwork has a roughly circular plan and has been artificially raised above the surrounding ground surface. Traces of an inner bank are visible along the north eastern and western sides of the ringwork enclosure; this bank is thought to have been present originally on all sides. Access into the ringwork is thought to have been by means of a causeway across the eastern section of its enclosing ditch. The ringwork enclosure itself has an uneven surface, indicating the survival of buried features beneath the ground surface. In the north eastern part of the ringwork a large block of in situ masonry is visible standing to a height of c.1.9m. It is built of local sandstone and represents a rectangular building. The remains of a circular staircase, situated adjacent to the block of standing masonry, have been uncovered in the past though they now lie buried beneath the ground surface. Fragments of masonry are also visible in the north eastern parts of the enclosure. To the north east, east and south east of the ringwork is a polygonal-shaped bailey. It is bounded along its north western side by the northern stream channel, and to the east and south, by a 6m wide ditch; the ringwork ditch defines the bailey's western side. The north eastern section of the bailey ditch has been infilled and is no longer visible on the ground surface. It is thought to have connected with the northern stream channel and will survive as a buried feature. A stream channel now flows north/south through the central part of the bailey. A dry, 10m wide channel, aligned south west-north east, is visible in the northern part of the bailey. This feature is thought to be original and divides the bailey into two courts. Castle Yard was occupied by the Hastings family from the early 12th century and the site became their chief residence in Warwickshire. The last of the Hastings line died in 1389 and the site became part of the Bergavenny baronry which was held by the Beauchamps and the Nevilles. Castle Yard is thought to have been abandoned during the late 14th or early 15th century. All fence posts at the site are excluded from the scheduling, but the ground beneath them is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

21573

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
The Victoria History of the County of Warwickshire: Volume I, (1904), 376
Salter, M, Castles and Moated Mansions of Warwickshire, (1992), 28
Chatwin, P B, Transactions of the Birmingham Archaeologiacl Society in Castles in Warwickshire, Vol. 67, (1947), 25

End of official list entry

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