Castle Dykes, Northamptonshire
Castle Dykes at SP618567 are a series of earthworks in Northamptonshire found north of the village of Farthingstone. There are the remains of a mediæval castle, but it is believed that the earthworks themselves may be more ancient, perhaps a pre-Roman fort.
Most of the site today is overgrown difficult to access. It is sited though so as to provide fine views on all sides.
Description
The site is a well preserved example of a substantial motte and bailey castle, with two well-defined inner baileys, and an embanked outer bailey. Within the motte mound are the foundations of a stone castle: one of the best surviving examples of its type in Northamptonshire.
The mound of the castle motte is round and stands 16 feet above the surrounding ditch and is about 260 feet in diameter at its base. The remains of stone walls are identifiable on the motte mound. The motte is centrally placed between two lateral inner baileys which lie to east and west of the motte, and the baileys consist of well defined floor areas, approximately 230 feet wide in the west bailey and about 203 feet wide in the east bailey; both are surrounded by a substantial bank 10 feet high. The outer bailey to the north 355 feet x 360 feet. The whole is enclosed by a large ditch up to 10 feet deep, with an outer bank up to 8 feet high, crossed by a causeway.
Workmen digging for building-stone on the site before 1712 are said to have discovered a 'room with a vaulted stone roof, and another room beneath', as well as 'rudely carved' stones with human figures on them.[1] A mediæval floor tile, said to be from Castle Dykes, is in the possession of Daventry School.
Hill fort
300 yards south of the castle motte, at a slightly higher elevation lie the earthworks of an Iron Age hillfort. Unlike other isolated castles, this is a major earthwork clearly more than would be need to defend a farmstead.
History
Nothing is known of the history of the site but in its present form it presumably dates from the late 11th or the 12th century. However it is possible that part of the outer ramparts are of Iron Age origin, particularly those of the two semicircular baileys. Roman finds said to be from this site may in fact have come from the prehistoric enclosure to the south.
There were two manors in the time of King Edward recorded in Domesday in Fordinestone the second an eighth the size of the first but both are held by the noted castle builder Robert of Mortain in 1086. It is not known whether Mortain built the castle here for his manor: as he had nearly 800 manors across the land, including a concentration in Northamptonshire, he had little need of a fortress for each, though it has been argued that this location could have served as a local headquarters for Mortain's manors west of Northampton. There appears to be little strategic value to the site in comparison to other manors of Mortain's such as Weedon Bec.
Outside links
- Gatehouse Links – Farthingstone Castle Dykes
- 'An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire' - Volume 3: Archaeological sites in North-West Northamptonshire – Farthingstone
References
- ↑ J. Morton, Nat. Hist. of Northants. (1712), 543; G. Baker, Hist. of Northants., I (1830), 375; Whellan, Dir., 416; VCH Northants., II (1906), 409; Plans and Sections, 1841, Dryden Collection, Central Library, Northampton)
