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HEDINGHAM CASTLE

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Castle consisting of a ringwork and bailey with a keep dating from 1130-1140. Most of the buildings date from a rebuild dating to the 15th and 16th centuries including the bridge connecting the inner and outher baileys. Most of the buildings were demolished during the early 17th century. Scheduled and listed.

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(TL 787 358) Hedingham Castle (remains of) (1)

The castle (a large ring-work with 'wishbone' counterscarp banks and bailey (4) (see plan from (2)), was built by Aubrey de Vere (Earl of Oxford) in 1130-40. By 1214 it was in Crown hands and was captured in 1216 although it remained a stronghold until the 17th/18th century when all buildings (most of them rebuilt in the 15th/16th century) were destroyed with the exception of the great Norman Keep (TL 7870 3587) and the 15th/16th century bridge connecting the inner and outer baileys (TL 7875 3589). The Keep (4 storeys high and and built of Barnack stone), is one of the finest and most complete examples of 12th century military architecture in the country. Roman tile has been worked into the back of the fireplace but nowhere else (6). Although the interior has suffered from fire in 1954 it is well preserved and in private ownership. Excavations in 1853 and 1869 were carried out and foundations discovered (see plan from (5)). (2-7)

Hedingham Castle. Castle keep circa 1130-1140. Built for Aubrey De Vere and reputedly designed by William De Corbeuil. RCHM 3. Grade I (see list for details). (8)

TL 787 359. Hedingham Castle. Scheduled no.3. (9)

Hedingham Castle (TL 787 358) was the main seat of the Earls of Oxford. It is a large earthen ringwork castle with two baileys and was probably built in the late 11th/early 12th century by Aubrey de Vere who was granted the land by William I during the Norman Conquest. The large central mound was evidently the main focus of the castle, with the smaller, inner, bailey to the east and the larger, outer, bailey to the west. The entrance to the inner bailey is lost, possibly beneath the C18th Hedingham Castle House (see TL 73 NE 30). The outer bailey quickly went out of use as the town grew (see TL 73 NE 58).

The magnificent and sophisticated keep was built around the middle of the 12th century, at the height of the Anarchy, and may have been constructed to mark the elevation of the de Veres to the earldom of Oxford (an honour granted by Queen Matilda). Other buildings would also have existed, though no sign of these remain today. Around the castle three hunting parks were created; Great Park, Castle Park and Little Park.

The 13th Earl of Oxford was instrumental in the accession of Henry VII, and it was he who was responsible for an ambitious building programme at Hedingham at the end of the 15th century, when all of the earlier stone buildings other than the keep and a gatehouse (now gone) were replaced by brick towers and apartment ranges covering most of the castle mound; slight earthworks mark the positions of some of these buildings. The most notable of these was the Great Brick Tower, an ornate `donjon' overlooking the town of Castle Hedingham; the foundations of the stair turrets of this tower remain. The Tudor bridge (recently restored) and Tennis Court also date to this phase of the history of the castle. The castle was surveyed in 1592 by Israel Armyse (10a), but many of the buildings appear to have been razed to the ground by the early 17th century (10b), by which time it had ceased to be the seat of the Earls of Oxford (10c).

In 1713, the estate was sold to the Ashurst family who proceeded to build a great house there (see TL 73 NE 30) and to extensively landscape the grounds for gardens (see TL 73 NE 60).

The earthworks at Hedingham Castle were surveyed by the Royal Commission in October and November 1995 following a request from English Heritage. See archive report and plan at 1:1000 scale. (10)

Dixon and Marshall provide evidence that the keep was originally three-storeyed, and the later 4th floor was added as a sign of the enhanced status of the de Vere family. (11)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1960

( 2) Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) 1916 An inventory of the historical monuments in Essex. Volume I [north west]

plans photos Page(s)51-57

( 3) The Buildings of England

Essex 1954 Page(s)110-111

( 4) by Derek Renn 1973 Norman castles in Britain

plan Page(s)202-204

( 5) Essex Archaeological Society transactions

1869 (L A Majendie) 4 Page(s)240

( 6) General reference

Essex Highways Byeways etc 1892 (C R B Barrett) Page(s)69

( 7) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

Halstead Rural District March 1960 Page(s)26

( 8) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

District of Braintree 1984 Page(s)1-3

( 9) English Heritage 1987 County list of Scheduled Ancient Monuments : December 1987

Page(s)4

(10) General reference

RCHME: Hedingham Castle Survey

(10a) General reference

I Armyse 1592 A Survey of Castle Hedingham (Essex Record Office Ref: D/DMh M1)

(10b) General reference

Untitled and unattributed early C17 survey of Hedingham Castle (Essex Record Office Ref: D/DMh P1)

(10c) General reference

Lewis Majendie 1796 An Account of Hedingham Castle (London, John Nichols)

(11) Fortress : the castles and fortifications quarterly

18, DEC-1992

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