Moor End Castle, Yardley Godion (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Moreende

In the civil parish of Yardley Gobion.
In the historic county of Northamptonshire.
Modern Authority of Northamptonshire.
1974 county of Northamptonshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SP75444462
Latitude 52.0942° Longitude -0.8993°

Moor End Castle, Yardley Godion has been described as a certain Masonry Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Earthwork remains of a Medieval moat and fishponds. The are no structural remains of the castle, although remains were dug up in 1852. A licence to crenellate was issued in 1347 to Thomas Ferrers, and in 1363 Edward III obtained it. Between 1363 and 1369 much building was done. A royal chamber, a chapel, and other buildings and repair of several towers, the wall, the old chamber, and inner and outer gates, are recorded. It was in royal hands during C15, but its subsequent history is uncertain. The moated site survives as an island surrounded by a water-filled ditch between 17m and 25m wide on the south west, north west and north east and by a large pond 50m by 90m on the south east. A dry ditch 8m wide and up to 1m deep to the north east of the moat appears to be a former leat which carried water round the site, possibly to a mill at its south east end.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1347 March 20 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument number 1010806, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 13614
English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 343110.
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Books
- Riden, Philip and Insley, Charles (eds), 2002, 'Potterspury' VCH Northamptonshire Vol. 5 p. 289-345 online transcription
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 77
  Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 183
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 319
  RCHME, 1982, An inventory of the historical monuments in the County of Northampton Vol. 4: South-west Northamptonshire (HMSO) p. 175
  Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol. 2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p. 742-3
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 414 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Steadman, S., 1993, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter Vol. 23 p. 49-50 online copy
  Pretty, E., 1852, Journal of the British Archaeological Association p. 111
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), 1903, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1345-48) Vol. 7 p. 270 online copy
  Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1905, Calendar of Close Rolls Edward III (1346-49) Vol. 8 p. 222 (an order to deliver the charter without taking any fee) view online copy (requires subscription but searchable) alternative 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. 338-9
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. 550-51

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