Beaumont Castle was a medieval
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
in
Mixbury
Mixbury is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southeast of Brackley in Northamptonshire.
Manor
The toponym is derived from the Old English ''mixen-burgh'', meaning "fortification near dung-heap". ''"Burgh"'' refers to Beaumont ...
,
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
, England, located at .
History
Beaumont Castle was a possible
motte and bailey
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 (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortification ...
or
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.
...
castle built in the village of
Mixbury
Mixbury is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southeast of Brackley in Northamptonshire.
Manor
The toponym is derived from the Old English ''mixen-burgh'', meaning "fortification near dung-heap". ''"Burgh"'' refers to Beaumont ...
,
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
, England. The castle was probably built by
Roger d'Ivry
Roger d'Ivry or d'Ivri or Rog'ive or Roger Perceval (died 1079) was an 11th-century nobleman from Ivry-la-Bataille in Normandy. He was the younger son of Robert de Breval and his wife, Albreda, daughter of Rodolph, Lord of Ivry.
He took part in W ...
following the
Norman invasion of England
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conquer ...
.
Parishes: Mixbury
', A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 6 (1959), pp. 251-262; accessed 11 June 2011. The castle was probably called Beaumont because it occupied a natural promontory overlooking a local stream.
[ The castle was abandoned before 1216. Private excavations by two brothers from London in 1954–5 allegedly revealed a dungeon and an underground passage, although this discovery is disputed by scholars. The site is registered as a scheduled monument.]
See also
*Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
Castles have played an important military, economic and social role in Great Britain and Ireland since their introduction following the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Although a small number of castles had been built in England in the 10 ...
*List of castles in England
This list of castles in England is not a list of every building and site that has "castle" as part of its name, nor does it list only buildings that conform to a strict definition of a castle as a medieval fortified residence. It is not a li ...
References
{{Authority control
Castles in Oxfordshire