Risinghoe Castle, sometimes known as Goldington Castle, is a 20-foot mound, located in the former village of
Goldington, a parish in the
hundred of Barford
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...
, in the county of
Bedfordshire,
England. The village of
Goldington has now been incorporated into the town of
Bedford, and the castle is now officially is located in
Newnham ward. The mound is located on the north side of the
River Ouse, three miles east of
Bedford Castle and a mile west of
Renhold Castle
Details
Controversy exists over the original purpose of the earthwork, particularly whether it was actually part of a castle site. Conventional wisdom states Risinghoe Castle was a timber
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, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...
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 ...
built sometime after the
Norman Invasion
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 Conq ...
of 1066. It is referred to as having been the property of
Hugh de Beauchamp, the chief landowner in
Goldington in 1086. The castle is mentioned as already being old by the end of the 12th century. It was probably obtained by
Warden Abbey with the grange of Risinghoe and
Puttenhoe Manor, with which it was conferred on Sir
John Gostwick
Sir John Gostwick (c.1480 – 15 April 1545) was an English courtier, administrator and MP.
Life
He was born as the son of John Gostwick in Willington, Bedfordshire, and educated in Potton. Around 1510, he entered the service of Cardinal Wolsey ...
at the
Dissolution (1538–1541), afterwards passing, with the rest of their property in Goldington, to
John Russell, Duke of Bedford.
There is no surviving physical evidence of a bailey, nor other elements of a castle, although this may be due to extensive clay extraction on the site in Victorian times. A number of authors have stated that the mound was excavated in 1943, however no primary sources for the excavation appear to exist, and there is no mention of it in the report of the 1943 annual meeting of the Bedfordshire Natural History and Archaeological Society. An alternative version, stated by local residents, is that the mound was penetrated for the construction of an air raid shelter in 1940 and nothing was found. If the second version of events is correct, then no professional excavation has ever taken place.
Beauchamp Wadmore
Beauchamp may refer to:
People
Surname
* Alphonse de Beauchamp, French historian
* Anne Beauchamp, 15th Countess of Warwick (d. 1449)
* Antony Beauchamp (1918–1957), British photographer
* Beauchamp, stage name sometimes used by French a ...
, in his 1920 book ''The Earthworks of Bedfordshire'', casts further doubts on the status as a castle site. Wadmore's researches point to the mound being erected to commemorate a 9th-century victory over the Danes associated with nearby
Gannock Castle
Gannocks Castle is located in the village of Tempsford, in the county of Bedfordshire, England. It is located 6 miles east of Great Barford Castle and 9 miles east of Bedford Castle.
History
Though called a castle, it was in truth a motte and ...
. Wadmore also states that, prior to the damage of the site for clay extraction, a second smaller mound existed. However, an early
Ordnance Survey map names it as a castle site.
Risinghoe Castle is located on private property belonging to a local company and is not open to the public. However, the site can be viewed from a distance from the nearby road.
See also
*
Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
*
List of castles in England
References
British History Online*The Earthworks of Bedfordshire, Beauchamp Wadmore, Bedfordshire Standard, 1920
*Bedfordshire Archaeologists Activities, The Bedfordshire Times, 15 October 1943
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Buildings and structures in Bedford
Ruins in Bedfordshire
Castles in Bedfordshire