Ashton Keynes Castle was a castle in the village of

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 ...

, near to the town of

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 ...

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 ...

, England (). It is also known as Hall's Close, while locals call it The Battlefield. The

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 d ...

consists of a

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 sit ...

and bailey west of Kentend Farm.

History

The castle was founded in the 12th century by the

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 d ...

. 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 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 a ...

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 Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

from

Miles of Gloucester Miles FitzWalter of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford (died 24 December 1143) (''alias'' Miles of GloucesterSanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.7) was a great magnate based in the west of ...

during the Anarchy. Excavations carried out by G.M. Knocker and others have unearthed floor tiles, glazed and unglazed pottery, and other items dating from the early 12th to the 13th century. These discoveries, with the condition and the form of fortifications, are consistent with the theory that the military purpose of the castle was short-lived, and it was converted into a manor by the de Keynes soon afterwards.

References

Bibliography

* {{cite book , last =Fry , first =Plantagenet Somerset , author-link =Plantagenet Somerset Fry , title =The David & Charles Book of Castles , publisher =David & Charles , date =1980 , location =Newton Abbot , isbn =0-7153-7976-3 , page =180 Castles in Wiltshire