Urban Castle Imposition in Anglo- Norman England, AD1050-1150

453 Pages·2011·10.27 MB·English

The Old in the New: Urban Castle Imposition in Anglo-
Norman England, AD1050-1150

Submitted by Michael Fradley to the University of Exeter
as a thesis for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Archaeology
in June 2011

This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material
and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper
acknowledgement.

I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified
and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a
degree by this or any other University.

Signature: …………………………………………………………..
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Abstract

In the aftermath of the Norman Conquest of the kingdom of England in the late eleventh
century a series of castle structures were imposed on the fabric of a large number of Late
Saxon towns. In the late 1980s this specific group of castles were archaeologically termed
‘urban castles’, being perceived as distinct from other forms of such structures encountered in
the UK. The interpretation of these castles, whose design is widely accepted as being imported
in this period from northern France, is closely entwined with culturally and nationalistically-
loaded historical narrative of the Norman Conquest. This interpretive position has had a
dominant role in how the urban castle is studied in historical and archaeological discourse,
which in turn reinforces the validity and legitimacy of this approach.

The present study will seek to question the rationale and evidence behind the present
interpretive framework. This will include a historiographical analysis of the development of the
study of Late Saxon and Norman England over the last century and how the conditions of
research in this period has influenced and often proved divisive in how the urban castle is
understood and encapsulated within perceptions of radical change in English history. In turn it
will offer an alternative, interdisciplinary approach to the encounter and interpretation of the
urban castle. Detailed examinations of the urban castles and settlements of Wallingford
(Oxon.) and Huntingdon (Cambs.) will be followed by broader, regional studies of Sussex and
the Severn Vale. The castles in these examples will be studied in the wider context of urban
development across the period c.AD900-1150 which will allow them to be considered as one
element amongst a hetregenous, fluid process of settlement evolution. This original
methodology will be utilised to demonstrate how these sites can be used as a subject for
understanding the wider phenomenon of Saxo-Norman urbanism, and that the castle is an
integral, if physically distinct, element in this process.
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Table of Contents

Abstract 1
Table of Contents 2
Lits of Tables 3
List of Illustrations 4
List of abbreviations 8
Acknowledgements 9
1 Introduction 10
2 Archaeology, history and the urban castle 12
3 Theoretical and methodological approaches to the urban castle 56
4 Contrasting fortunes: Wallingford castle and town 88
5 The urban castle in eastern England: Huntingdon 140
6 Regional perspectives on urban castle building: the Severn Vale 181
7 Urban castle foundations in the post-Conquest Rapes of Sussex 229
8 Spatial relationships between urban castle and town in England 267
9 Discussion: change and continuity in medieval governance 316
10 Overview 359
Appendix A 361
Appendix B 379
Glossary 394
Bibliography 395
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List of Tables

3.1 Urban Castles in England 80-1
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List of Illustrations

2.1 Artist‟s impression of the first castle at Gloucester 18
2.2 Plan of town and castle at Hereford 20
2.3 Oxford Castle mound 23
2.4 Divisions of castle type 26
2.5 The White Tower, London 44
2.6 Plan of medieval Rouen 47
2.7 A medieval urban tower in Arezzo, Italy 50
3.1 Map of urban castle locations in England and Wales 82
3.2 Location of case studies 85
4.1 Wallingford regional location map 90
4.2 Plan of Wallingford with church locations 92
4.3 Plan of Wallingford with excavation locations 94
4.4 The burh ditch in Wallingford Castle Meadows 95
4.5 The hollow way of the northern axial road at Wallingford 97
4.6 The remains of a post-medieval causewayed drive 108
4.7 Modelling the development of Saxo-Norman Wallingford 110
4.8 Plan of Wallingford Castle in the eleventh century 117
4.9 Plan of Wallingford Castle in the early twelfth century 120
4.10 The gate tower of Ludlow Castle, Shropshire 122
4.11 The ramparts of the south-west bailey 123
4.12 Plan of Wallingford Castle c.AD1200 125
4.13 Plan of Wallingford Castle in the later thirteenth century 126
4.14 The waterscape of Wallingford Castle 128
4.15 Plan of the conjectured deer course at Wallingford Castle 131
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4.16 Wallingford Castle motte 133
4.17 The thirteenth-century earthwork dam at Wallingford Castle 137
5.1 Huntingdon regional location map 142
5.2 Plan of Huntingdon with church locations 144
5.3 Plan of Huntingdon with excavation locations 148
5.4 View of Huntingdon Mill Common 153
5.5 Huntingdon Mill Common earthwork survey plan 158
5.6. View of the Bar Dyke 160
5.7 Huntingdon Castle motte 162
5.8 Tempsford earthwork survey plan 167
6.1 Severn Vale regional location map 183
6.2 Plan of Saxo-Norman Shrewsbury 185
6.3 Quatford earthwork survey plan 190
6.4 View of Quatford Castle motte 192
6.5 Plan of Saxo-Norman Worcester 195
6.6 View of Winchcombe burh bank 201
6.7 Plan of Saxo-Norman Winchcombe 202
6.8 Plan of Saxo-Norman Tewkesbury 208
6.9 Tewkesbury Abbey viewed from Holm Hill 209
6.10 Plan of Saxo-Norman Gloucester 211
6.11 Plan of Saxo-Norman Berkeley 217
6.12 Plan of Saxo-Norman Bristol 220
6.13 View of Bristol Castle 223
7.1 Sussex regional location map 230
7.2 Plan of Saxo-Norman Hastings 232
7.3 View of Hastings Castle interior 234
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7.4 Plan of Saxo-Norman Pevensey 237
7.5 View of Pevensey Castle inner ward 239
7.6 Plan of Saxo-Norman Lewes 242
7.7 View of the western motte at Lewes Castle 245
7.8 Plan of Saxo-Norman Steyning and Bramber 247
7.9 View of Bramber Castle wall 250
7.10 Plan of Saxo-Norman Burpham and Arundel 253
7.11 View of Arundel Castle motte 255
7.12 Plan of Saxo-Norman Chichester 257
8.1 View of the White Tower from the River Thames 279
8.2 Hogg‟s Mount at Hereford Castle 280
8.3 The great tower of Chepstow Castle 282
8.4 View of Chester Castle motte 286
8.5 Durham Castle and cathedral 293
8.6 St John‟s Chapel in the White Tower 298
8.7 Stafford excavation plans 302
8.8 Ipswich excavation plans 304
8.9 St George‟s Tower at Oxford Castle 306
8.10 Towns and castles in Normandy 312
8.11 Plan of Bayeux, Normandy 313
8.12 Cambridge Castle motte 314
9.1 Tamworth Castle 332
9.2 Cambridgeshire Shirehall viewed from Cambridge Castle motte 348
9.3 Cardiff Castle motte 350
A.1 Wallingford earthwork survey plan 362
A.2 St Leonard‟s Churchyard detailed earthwork plan 363
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A.3 Kinecroft detailed earthwork plan 364
A.4 Bullcroft detailed earthwork plan 366
A.5 Castle Meadows detailed earthwork plan 368
B.1 Huntingdon Mill Common survey plan 380
B.2 Central Mill Common survey plan 382
B.3 Western Mill Common survey plan 386
B.4 Eastern Mill Common survey plan 389
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List of abbreviations

CHER: Cambridgeshire Historic Environment Record, Cambridge
NMR: National Monument Record, Swindon
OHER: Oxfordshire Historic Environment Record, Oxford
SHER: Shropshire Historic Environment Record, Shrewsbury
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Acknowledgements

In the course of undertaking my doctoral studies I have been fortunate enough to
receive encouragement, advice and assistance from a wide array of individuals. Support
has been provided by members of the „Wallingford Burh to Borough‟ project including
Dr Neil Christie, Dr Matt Edgeworth, Andy Hyam and Gavin Speed of the University
of Leicester Archaeological Service. From the Wallingford Museum group Judy Dewey,
Gerard Latham, Peggy Holland and David Pedgley. Steve Preston of Thames Valley
Archaeological Services provided unpublished archaeological reports. For Huntingdon
Dr Paul Spoerry, Richard Mortimer and Rachel Clarke of Oxford Archaeology East
were invaluable, as well as David Cozens and Alison Taylor. Dr Nigel Baker provided
pre-publication access to the Shrewsbury urban assessment. Dr. Mark Gardiner and
Dr. Roland Harris provided information relating to Saxo-Norman Sussex. Individuals at
various Historic Environment teams: Sarah Poppy (Cambridgeshire County Council);
Richard Oram (Oxfordshire County Council); Penny Ward and Hugh Hannaford
(Shropshire County Council); Tony Roberts (Gloucestershire County Council) and
Pete Insole (Bristol City Council). At English Heritage encouragement and support was
received from Graham Brown, Wayne Cocroft, Sarah Newsome, Elaine Jamieson and
Mark Bowden, as well as Claire Tsang at Fort Cumberland, Portsmouth. Brian Davison
was incredibly generous in the time, intellect and unpublished data he offered. Dr
Keith Lilley at Queen‟s University, Belfast also offered advice and suggestions. My
supervisor, Oliver Creighton, has been supportive through my doctorate, as have
Stephen Rippon and Chris Knüsel as my wider supervisorial team.

Finally I would like to thank Claire, Livia and Wilfred for their love, tolerance and all
other things during the course of this particular endeavour.
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