South Cerney Castle was an
adulterine castle
Adulterine castles were fortifications built in England during the 12th century without royal approval, particularly during the civil war of the Anarchy between 1139 and 1154.
Details
During the civil war of the Anarchy, fought between the facti ...
of
Motte and bailey construction built in
South Cerney
South Cerney is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, 3 miles south of Cirencester and close to the border with Wiltshire. It had a population of 3,074 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 3,464 at the ...
, Gloucestershire in the mid-12th century. Today only slight earthwork remains and they are a
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 ...
.
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
The River Churn is a tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises at Seven Springs in Gloucestershire and flows south for approximately to meet the Thames at Cricklade in Wiltshire. Its length from its source to the confluence wi ...
, was identified by Bazeley and Kennen, and accepted by other historians as the one built by
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 and 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; ...
's forces in 1139, but the record of this is uncertain and Renn suggested that
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 b ...
was the more likely site for these events, and King mentions that this castle is frequently confused with a castle in
Cerne Abbas
Cerne Abbas () is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies in the Dorset Council administrative area in the Cerne Valley in the Dorset Downs. The village lies just east of the A352 road north of Dor ...
, Dorset and a lost castle in
Calne
Calne () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, southwestern England,OS Explorer Map 156, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey A2 edition (2007). at the northwestern extremity of the North Wessex Downs ...
, Wiltshire.
[ cites ]
The subsequent fate of the castle is unknown.
Notes
References
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Further reading
* primary Latin historical source for the mention of this castle in the Anarchy (see page 59).
{{DEFAULTSORT:South Cerney Castle
Castles in Gloucestershire
Structures on the Heritage at Risk register