Castle Ashby; The Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Asheby David

In the civil parish of Castle Ashby.
In the historic county of Northamptonshire.
Modern Authority of Northamptonshire.
1974 county of Northamptonshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SP86255923
Latitude 52.2239° Longitude -0.7379°

Castle Ashby; The Castle has been described as a certain Timber Castle, and also as a probable Masonry Castle, and also as a certain Palace.

There are no visible remains.

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Elizabethian house near site of medieval predecessor which was "clean down" when seen by Leland in 1540. The nature of the castle is obscure but since it was extant in C11 and presumably had masonry for Leland to say it was 'clean down' then probably originally a timber castle with some form of later masonry work. Bishop Langton received a licence to crenellate in 1306 and may have started some building before his lands were forfeited to Edward II in 1307.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1306 Sept 16 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1371298
English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 345187.
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Raving Loony Productions
Books
- Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 73
  Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 183
  Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p. 167, 173
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 169 (slight)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 319
  Pevsner, Nikolaus; revised by Bridget Cherry, 1973, Buildings of England: Northamptonshire (Penguin) p. 137
  Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1937, VCH Northamptonshire Vol. 4 p. 230, 232-3 online transcription
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 405 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Scriven, R.G., 1878, 'The history of Castle Ashby' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 35 p. 360-3 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1898, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward I (1301-1307) Vol. 4 p. 462 online copy
  Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) (lists sources for 1272-1422) p. 337
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p. 324
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1907, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 1 p. 7 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Lowerre, A.G., 2004, Placing Castles in the Conquest. Landscape, Lordship and Local Politics in the South-Eastern Midlands, 1066-1100 (PhD thesis: Boston College) p. 521-22
  Payne, Naomi, 2003, The medieval residences of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury (PhD Thesis University of Bristol) Appendix B: List of Medieval Bishop's Palaces in England and Wales (available via EThOS)

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