![Castor Church - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Castor_Church_-_geograph.org.uk_-_162294.jpg)
Castor is a village and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in the
City of Peterborough
The City of Peterborough is a unitary authority district with city status in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The area is named after its largest settlement, Peterborough but also covers a wider area of outlying villages and ha ...
unitary authority, about west of the city centre. The parish is part of the former
Soke of Peterborough
The Soke of Peterborough is a historic area of England associated with the City and Diocese of Peterborough, but considered part of Northamptonshire. The Soke was also described as the Liberty of Peterborough, or Nassaburgh hundred, and compr ...
, which was considered part of
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
until 1888 and then
Huntingdon and Peterborough
Huntingdon and Peterborough was a short-lived administrative and geographical county in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. It existed from 1965 to 1974, when it became part of Cambridgeshire.
Formation
The Local Government Act 1888 created fo ...
from 1965 to 1974, when it became part of
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
.
Toponym
Castor's
name
A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...
is derived from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
"
ceaster", possibly referring to the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
fort
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
across the
River Nene
The River Nene ( or : see below) is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in Northamptonshire.OS Explorer Map sheet 223, Northampton & Market Harborough, Brixworth & Pitsford Water. The river is about long, about of w ...
at
Durobrivae, or more probably referring to the massive
Praetorium
The Latin term (also and ) originally identified the tent of a general within a Roman castrum (encampment), and derived from the title praetor, which identified a Roman magistrate.Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 2 ed., ...
on the hilltop at Castor.
History
Roman
In the Roman period, there was a huge palatial structure at Castor. This was extensively excavated in the 1820s by Edmund Artis, the agent for the
Fitzwilliam estate, who published a volume of illustrations about his work, which he suggested was a ''
Praetorium
The Latin term (also and ) originally identified the tent of a general within a Roman castrum (encampment), and derived from the title praetor, which identified a Roman magistrate.Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 2 ed., ...
''. Recent small-scale work has confirmed that it extended over a considerable area: Roman buildings covered an area of 290 by 130 m (3.77 ha) and had at least 11 rooms with tessellated floors and mosaics, at least two bathhouses and several hypocausts. The masonry which survives points to a monumental architecture indicating two major phases of building.
A recent survey by Stephen Upex suggested that the earlier smaller building dates to the 2nd century, but that the major palatial building dates to 240 – 260 AD. The structure is linked to a similar structure at
Stonea
Stonea is a hamlet in Cambridgeshire, England, south east of March and part of the parish of Wimblington.[Wim ...]
35 km to the south. It is suggested that in the Roman period, the Fens were a vast
imperial estate
An Imperial State or Imperial Estate ( la, Status Imperii; german: Reichsstand, plural: ') was a part of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise si ...
and that at first Stonea was the seat of the
procurator
Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to:
* Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency
* ''Procurator'' (Ancient Rome), the title of ...
where the taxes were collected, and that after 250 this function was transferred to Castor.
The Praetorium may be connected with the town of
Durobrivae (modern
Water Newton
Water Newton is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Water Newton lies approximately west of Peterborough. Water Newton is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as being ...
) on the other side of the river Nene. The whole area was the centre of the Nene valley pottery industry which was one of the three major pottery producing areas in late Roman Britain, producing pottery on an industrial scale.
The Praetorium appears to have been abandoned in the fifth century and there is a hiatus till the late 7th and 8th centuries, when finds from the area suggest considerable high-status activity. It is suggested that during the 7th century the former Roman site became the focus of the nunnery of
St Kyneburgha, founded before 664.
[Dugdale's ''Monasticon'' prints the foundation charter of Burh/Medehampstead, dated 664, which establishes beyond doubt that Kyneburg had left her husband to found and preside over her monastery at Castor: "Formerly a queen, who had resigned her sway to preside over a monastery of maidens".]
Early medieval
Kyneburgha (d. c. 680) and Kyneswide were sisters, the daughters of
King Penda of Mercia
Penda (died 15 November 655)Manuscript A of the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' gives the year as 655. Bede also gives the year as 655 and specifies a date, 15 November. R. L. Poole (''Studies in Chronology and History'', 1934) put forward the theo ...
, the sisters of
Peada of Mercia
Peada (died 656), a son of Penda, was briefly King of southern Mercia after his father's death in November 655The year could be pushed back to 654 if a revised interpretation of Bede's dates is used. and until his own death in the spring of the n ...
; their mother was Kynewise. Kyneburgha married
Alhfrith of Deira
Alhfrith or Ealhfrith (c. 630 – c. 664) was King of Deira under his father Oswiu, King of Bernicia, from 655 until sometime after 664. Appointed by Oswiu as a subordinate ruler, Alhfrith apparently clashed with his father over religious policy, ...
, co-regent of Northumbria (who attended the
Synod of Whitby
In the Synod of Whitby in 664, King Oswiu of Northumbria ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter and observe the monastic tonsure according to the customs of Rome rather than the customs practiced by Irish monks at Iona and its satellite ins ...
in 664), but later founded an
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The conce ...
for both
monks
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedicat ...
and
nuns
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...
in Castor.
She became the first
abbess
An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey.
Description
In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...
. She was buried in her church, but her remains were translated, before 972, to
Peterborough Abbey
Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Pau ...
, now
Peterborough Cathedral
Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Church of England, Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Sain ...
. She had been one of the signatories, together with her brother
Wulfhere
Wulfhere or Wulfar (died 675) was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of North ...
, of the founding charter of Peterborough Abbey, dated 664. The Danes laid waste to the area in around AD 870.
The
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
of St Kyneburgha is notable for its
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...
and includes notable medieval wall paintings. It is a Grade I
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
It is the only church of that dedication in England.
[ The Romanesque tower is 71 feet (22 metres) high, topped by a later spire of 44 feet high (13 metres), giving a total height of 115 feet (35 metres).
]
Late medieval
The Robin Hood and Little John Standing Stones were erected here between the 12th and 14th centuries in an agreement with the abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...
of Peterborough Abbey
Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Pau ...
that tolls would not be levied on the passage of stone from the abbey's quarries at Barnack
Barnack is a village and civil parish, now in the Peterborough unitary authority of the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England and the historic county of Northamptonshire. Barnack is in the north-west of the unitary authority, south-east ...
.
Modern
The common land
Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel.
A person ...
s of Castor and the neighbouring parish of Ailsworth were not enclosed
Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
until 1898.
The route of the London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
branch line between and passes through the parish. It was opened in 1845, including Castor railway station
Castor Railway Station was a station serving the villages Castor and Ailsworth in Cambridgeshire. It was on the old London and North Western Railway Northampton to Peterborough line. On 3 January 1945 the station was badly damaged by a V1 att ...
built to serve the village. British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways closed the station in 1957 and the line in 1966, and Castor station has been demolished. The Nene Valley Railway
The Nene Valley Railway (NVR) is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is in length. There are stations at each terminus, and three stops en route: Orton Mere, ...
reopened the section of line through Castor in 1977, but has not reopened a station at Castor.
The £9 million dual-carriageway Ailsworth and Castor Bypass, which is part of the A47 road
The A47 is a major road in England linking Birmingham to Lowestoft, Suffolk. Most of the section between Birmingham and Nuneaton is now classified as the B4114. From Peterborough eastwards, it is a trunk road (sections west of the A1 road ...
, was opened in September 1991.
An episode of ''Time Team'' was filmed here and broadcast in 2011, revealing and confirming the huge size and height of the Roman ''praetorium''.
See also
* Castor Hanglands NNR
Castor Hanglands is an biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire. The site is also a National Nature Reserve, and it is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I for its woodlands and Grade 2 for it ...
* Castor railway station
Castor Railway Station was a station serving the villages Castor and Ailsworth in Cambridgeshire. It was on the old London and North Western Railway Northampton to Peterborough line. On 3 January 1945 the station was badly damaged by a V1 att ...
References
External links
Church architecture
(of St Catherine
St. Catherine or St. Katherine may refer to a number of List of saints named Catherine, saints named Catherine, or:
Geography
Canada
*St. Catharines, a city in Ontario
*St. Catharines (electoral district), federal
*St. Catharines (provincial ele ...
on her wheel
A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...
)
Castor Parish Church of St Kyneburgha
The archives of the parish churches of Castor, Ailsworth, Milton, Upton and Sutton in Cambridgeshire
The Castor and Ailsworth village website
hidden as broken & unfixable 31 August 2010-->
{{authority control
Villages in Cambridgeshire
Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire
Geography of Peterborough