Bampton Castle was in the village of Bampton,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

(). Differing accounts of its origin exist. One states that in about 1142 AD during the reign of

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

Matilda Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Mathilda (gastropod), ''Mathilda'' (gastropod), a genus of gastropods in the family Mathildidae * Matilda (horse) (1824–1 ...

built a

motte 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 (fortificati ...

castle. According to other sources the castle was built in 1314–15, during the reign of

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...

, by Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, who obtained a licence from the king to "make a castle of his house at Bampton." The castle is mentioned in Skelton's, Antiquities of Oxfordshire, where he states that the castle was four-sided, with a tower at each corner and a fortified gatehouse on the eastern and western sides and corbelled out turrets for additional fortification. The last known account of the castle intact is from Woods manuscript, preserved at Ashmolean Museum, wherein he states that when he visited the castle on the September 7, 1664, nearly the entire western side was intact. The castle was demolished before 1789 but parts of its structure have been incorporated into a house, Ham Court, which is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. There used to be an RAF communications station nearby which was called RAF Bampton Castle. The castle (as it was in the 1360s) is the primary setting for the fictional medieval mystery series written by Mel Starr, the first of which is "The Unquiet Bones, the first chronicle of Hugh de Singleton, surgeon." "Bampton Castle" was the name of the

telephone exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a central component of a telecommunications system in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It facilitates the establishment of communication circuits ...

in the village. It was presumably so named in order to reduce confusion with telephone exchanges for other places in Britain called "Bampton" (which did not have castles). The exchange still exists, serving Bampton and neighbouring villages. Its location is not particularly close to the old castle.

Notes

{{Reflist Castles in Oxfordshire

See also

Notes