KING JOHNS CASTLE

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DESCRIPTION

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The earthwork and buried remains of King John's Castle, a motte and bailey castle. It is thought that Richard I granted Kineton to his brother John in the late 12th century who in turn granted it to Stephen de Seagrave in circa 1216. A gaol is documented here in 1192. The motte is located at the south eastern end of the bailey and has been artificially raised. The flat-topped mound has a diameter of 44 metres at its base and stands some 2 metres high. It is surrounded by a ditch which separates the motte from the bailey to the north east and is most visible on the north side of the motte. Most of its circuit has become infilled over time, but the ditch will survive as a buried feature. The bailey has a 'D'-shaped plan and is thought to have originally been bounded by a bank, which remains visible in places as a low, intermittent earthwork. Until recent years the bailey was occupied by allotments and now takes the form of a raised, levelled area with the ground falling away gradually beyond. Scheduled.

DETAIL

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MORE INFORMATION & SOURCES

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(Centred: SP 32975090) King John's Castle (GT) (site of) (SP 32805095). King John's Well (GT). (1)

An earthwork of the mount and court type, locally known as King John's Castle. (2)

"The extant works consist chiefly of a round conical artificial mount, about 125' in diameter at its base, and with a truncated top measuring about 49' across. This mount formerly had what Gibson described as a 'broad deep ditch' round it (a) only traces of which now however are to be made out. To the north and north west of the mount or 'keep' are some fragments of ramparts and ditches, evidently remnants of the defences of a court yard ... the original stockades here were never replaced by subsequent walls of masonry; this shows that the stronghold fell early into disuse." "Various coins, some of them Roman, have been found upon the site of the castle, and some ancient pottery was also dug up when the railway station was made." (For Ro.coins found here see SP 35 SW 4).

Kineton: "This motte stands on rising ground above a small stream; it has evidently suffered considerably from weather erosion; it is now only about 6' high and it is difficult to determine where the very gradually sloping sides end and the top begins; it is about 50' across at the top and is covered with large trees. There was a moderate sized bailey but it is not clearly marked; up to a comparatively few years ago it was under cultivation when its outline could be determined approximately by a difference in the colour of the soil ..." (3)

The earthworks comprise a motte with ditch to the north-east and the possible remains of a bailey wall to the north. A slight swelling in the now disused and overgrown allotments is probably the remains of an inner bailey. See APs. (4)

Published survey (25") revised. The well is now covered by a manhole.

Scheduled as 'King John's Castle'. (5)

Additional bibliography - documentory reference to a goal here in 1192 May represent last major stage in Castle's use. (6)

Scheduled. (7)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1906

( 2a) General reference

Gibson. 1695. Camdens Britannia Page(s)510

( 2) 1904 The Victoria history of the county of Warwick, volume one

The Victoria history of the counties of England Page(s)382-3

( 3) Birmingham and Midland Institute, Birmingham Archaeological Society transactions, excursions and reports

67 (1947-8) Page(s)11

( 4a) Aerial photograph

APs F22 58/RAF 1557 21 Sept 1954 0165-7

( 4) Field Investigators Comments

F1 BHS 06-AUG-68

( 5) Department of the Environment 1973 Ancient monuments in England : a list prepared by the Department of the Environment, corrected to 31st December 1971

Page(s)217

(6) David J Cathcart King 1983 Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the Islands. Volume II : Norfolk-Yorkshire and the islands

Page(s)483-8

(6a) General reference

Pipe Roll, 4 Ric I 245

(7) Scheduled Monument Notification

04-FEB-1999

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