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Ashton Keynes Castle
Ashton Keynes Castle was a castle in the village of Ashton Keynes, near to the town of Cricklade in Wiltshire, England (). It is also known as Hall's Close, while locals call it The Battlefield. The scheduled monument consists of a ringwork and bailey west of Kentend Farm. History The castle was founded in the 12th century by the Keynes family. Excavations at the site show that the castle consisted of a ringwork adjoined by a "single sub-rectangular bailey". In their present condition the earthworks appear dilapidated, but a trial trench excavated in 1959 found a strong outer wall above the ringwork, surrounded by a spring-fed ditch which itself was revetted with timber and lined with clay. The overall appearance of the remains suggests that the ruins are of a fortification that lies between a ringwork and a motte-and-bailey castle, which according to Renn, is proof that this castle rather than South Cerney Castle is the one that was captured by King Stephen from Miles of Glou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scheduled Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term "designation." The protection provided to scheduled monuments is given under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, which is a different law from that used for listed buildings (which fall within the town and country planning system). A heritage asset is a part of the historic environment that is valued because of its historic, archaeological, architectural or artistic interest. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have extra legal protection through designation. There are about 20,000 scheduled monuments in England representing about 37,000 heritage assets. Of the tens of thousands of scheduled monuments in the UK, most are inconspicuous archaeological sites, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashton Keynes
Ashton Keynes is a village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England which borders with Gloucestershire. The village is about south of Cirencester and west of Cricklade. At the 2011 census the population of the parish, which includes the hamlet of North End, was 1,400. The village lies within the Cotswold Water Park and is the only settlement substantially on both sides of the River Thames, which has many channels here, centred from its source at Thames Head. History A Romano-British settlement and field system was west of the present-day village, spanning the county boundary; it was investigated in 1971 before it was destroyed by gravel extraction. 'Ashton' comes from the Old English ''Æsctūn'', meaning 'place or settlement where ash trees grew'. In 1086, land at ''Essitone'' held by Cranborne Priory (Dorset) was recorded in the Domesday Book within Cricklade hundred. The land was transferred to the recently founded Tewkesbury Abbey (Gloucestershire) in 1102. As ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cricklade
Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227. History Cricklade was founded in the 9th century by the Anglo-Saxons, at the point where the Ermin Way Roman road crossed the River Thames. It was the home of a royal mint from 979 to 1100; there are some Cricklade coins in the town museum.Christopher Winn: ''I Never Knew That about the River Thames'' (London: Ebury Press, 2010), p. 6. The Domesday Book of 1086 records a settlement at ''Crichelade'', with a church, and at the centre of a hundred of the same name. Anglo-Saxon fortification Cricklade is one of thirty burhs (boroughs, i.e. fortresses or fortified towns) recorded in the Burghal Hidage document, which describes a system of fortresses and fortified towns built around Wessex by King Alfred. Recent research suggests these burhs were built in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the northeast and Berkshire to the east. The county town was originally Wilton, after which the county is named, but Wiltshire Council is now based in the county town of Trowbridge. Within the county's boundary are two unitary authority areas, Wiltshire and Swindon, governed respectively by Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council. Wiltshire is characterised by its high downland and wide valleys. Salisbury Plain is noted for being the location of the Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles (which together are a UNESCO Cultural and World Heritage site) and other ancient landmarks, and as a training area for the British Army. The city of Salisbury is notable for its medieval cathedral. Swindon is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scheduled Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term "designation." The protection provided to scheduled monuments is given under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, which is a different law from that used for listed buildings (which fall within the town and country planning system). A heritage asset is a part of the historic environment that is valued because of its historic, archaeological, architectural or artistic interest. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have extra legal protection through designation. There are about 20,000 scheduled monuments in England representing about 37,000 heritage assets. Of the tens of thousands of scheduled monuments in the UK, most are inconspicuous archaeological sites, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ringwork
A ringwork is a form of fortified defensive structure, usually circular or oval in shape. Ringworks are essentially motte-and-bailey castles without the motte. Defences were usually earthworks in the form of a ditch and bank surrounding the site. Ringworks originated in Germany in the 10th century as an early form of medieval castle and at first were little more than a fortified manor house. They appeared in England just prior to the Norman conquest and large numbers were built during the late 11th and early 12th centuries. More elaborate versions (such as Stansted Mountfitchet Castle) comprise a ringwork and bailey, the ringwork replacing the more usual motte and the bailey acting as a military stronghold. A survey published in 1969 identified 198 ringwork castles in England and Wales, with a further 50 sites that were considered to possibly be ringworks. D. J. Cathcart King and Leslie Alcock Leslie Alcock (24 April 1925 – 6 June 2006) was Professor of Archaeology at th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bailey (fortification)
A bailey or ward in a fortification is a courtyard enclosed by a curtain wall. In particular, an early type of European castle was known as a motte-and-bailey. Castles can have more than one bailey. Their layout depends both on the local topography and the level of fortification technology employed, ranging from simple enclosures to elaborate concentric defences. In addition to the gradual evolution of more complex castle plans, there are also significant differences in regional traditions of military architecture regarding the subdivision into baileys. Upper, lower, middle, inner and outer wards or baileys Baileys can be arranged in sequence along a hill (as in a spur castle), giving an upper bailey and lower bailey. They can also be nested one inside the other, as in a concentric castle, giving an outer bailey and inner bailey. Large castles may have two outer baileys; if in line they may form an outer and middle bailey. On the other hand, tower houses lack an enclosed bail ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keynes Family
The Keynes family ( ) is an English family that has included several notable economists, writers, and actors, including the economist John Maynard Keynes. Family tree of modern Keynes family History The English surname Keynes is derived from a Norman place name, either Cahagnes ( Calvados) or Cahaignes (Eure), which are documented as places of origin of people of this nameP.H. Reaney, 1997. ''Dictionary of English Surnames'' (3rd edn). Oxford: OUP or possibly also from similar placenames not so documented. The earliest documented person in England bearing the name was William de Cahaignes from Normandy who was born around 1035. Of another Norman William de Cahaignes (born around 1060 and probably his son), Katharine Keats-Rohan writes:- " Norman, from Cahaignes, Calvados, arr. Vire, cant. Aunay-sur-Odon. Major tenant of Robert, Count of Mortain (half-brother of William the Conqueror) in several Domesday counties. He was Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1086, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Revetted
A revetment in stream restoration, river engineering or coastal engineering is a facing of impact-resistant material (such as stone, concrete, sandbags, or wooden piles) applied to a bank or wall in order to absorb the energy of incoming water and protect it from erosion. River or coastal revetments are usually built to preserve the existing uses of the shoreline and to protect the slope. In military engineering it is a sloped structure formed to secure an area from artillery, bombing, or stored explosives. Freshwater revetments Many revetments are used to line the banks of freshwater rivers, lakes, and man-made reservoirs, especially to prevent damage during periods of floods or heavy seasonal rains (see riprap). Many materials may be used: wooden piles, loose-piled boulders or concrete shapes, or more solid banks. Concrete revetments are the most common type of infrastructure used to control the Mississippi River. More than of concrete matting has been placed in rive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motte-and-bailey Castle
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to build with unskilled labour, but still militarily formidable, these castles were built across northern Europe from the 10th century onwards, spreading from Normandy and Anjou in France, into the Holy Roman Empire in the 11th century. The Normans introduced the design into England and Wales. Motte-and-bailey castles were adopted in Scotland, Ireland, the Low Countries and Denmark in the 12th and 13th centuries. Windsor Castle, in England, is an example of a motte-and-bailey castle. By the end of the 13th century, the design was largely superseded by alternative forms of fortification, but the earthworks remain a prominent feature in many countries. Architecture Structures A motte-and-bailey castle was made up of two structures: a mott ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Cerney Castle
South Cerney Castle was an adulterine castle of Motte and bailey construction built in South Cerney, Gloucestershire in the mid-12th century. Today only slight earthwork remains and they are a scheduled monument. Description Only slight earthwork remains exist today, although excavations in the middle 1930s revealed a square well and some datable material from the 16th and 17th centuries including farthings from the reign of Charles I. Later, twelfth-century pottery was found on the site. History The small Norman castle, built to protect the strategically useful village of South Cerney along the river Churn, was identified by Bazeley and Kennen, and accepted by other historians as the one built by Miles of Gloucester during the Anarchy and captured by King Stephen's forces in 1139, but the record of this is uncertain and Renn suggested that Ashton Keynes Castle was the more likely site for these events, and King mentions that this castle is frequently confused with a castle in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Of England
Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne '' jure uxoris'' from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 until 1144. His reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda, whose son, Henry II, succeeded Stephen as the first of the Angevin kings of England. Stephen was born in the County of Blois in central France as the fourth son of Stephen-Henry, Count of Blois, and Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror. His father died while Stephen was still young, and he was brought up by his mother. Placed into the court of his uncle Henry I of England, Stephen rose in prominence and was granted extensive lands. He married Matilda of Boulogne, inheriting additional estates in Kent and Boulogne that made the couple one of the wealthiest in England. Stephen narrowly escaped drowning with Henry I's son, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
