Spelsbury Court Close (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Castle Ditches

In the civil parish of Spelsbury.
In the historic county of Oxfordshire.
Modern Authority of Oxfordshire.
1974 county of Oxfordshire.
Medieval County of Oxfordshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SP34862155
Latitude 51.89092° Longitude -1.49490°

Spelsbury Court Close has been described as a Masonry Castle although is doubtful that it was such, and also as a certain Palace, and also as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are no visible remains.

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

Description

Re-examination of Allen AP from 1935 indicates that large rectangular platform to west of church is comprised or rubble, with small circular and linear dumps to the north. Abundance of rubble suggests a substantial stone building. Original interpretation of SMV is unsustainable. Court Close is identified as the site of the Wychwood residence of Bishops of Worcester, and later as that of a castle of the Beauchamp Earls of Warwick. (Oxfordshire HER)

In 1842 Alfred Beesley, the author of the History of Banbury, was informed that there was 'until lately' a camp at Spelsbury. Lewis says:—'On an eminence near the village is an extensive triangular entrenchment called Castle Ditches, enclosing a space of about 24 acres.' It would appear to have been recently destroyed when Beesley received his information. (VCH 1907)

The site of a large medieval stone building, possibly a high status residence or Manor House. The site was originally interpreted as a Medieval Shrunken Village but investigations carried out in 1991 do not support this interpretation.
The site compromises of an area of earthworks under pasture just to the west of All Saint's Church. A rectangular feature or "platform" made up of a spread of rubble with smaller circular and linear dumps to the north has been identified. These remains suggest the presence of a substantial stone building and the associated banks indicate that the building complex occupied a substantial area of land.
The site was initially interpreted as a shrunken village, however the re-examination of the remains does not support this. Another interpretation put forward for the site is that it may have been a high status residence and even the Wychwood residence of the Bishops of Worcester which later became a castle of the Beauchamps, Plantagenet Earls of Worcester. This interpretation of the site as a high status residence may be supported by the finding in 1933 of a gilt bronze dish, possibly a late 7th or early 8th century hanging-bowl escutcheon. A Mercian royal charter of 840 (the earliest historical reference to the Spelsburg area) may also support this interpretation as it refers to King Berhtwulf granting to Bishop Heaberht of Worcester land for a residence at Wychwood. (PastScape)

On an eminence near the village is an extensive triangular intrenchment called Castle Ditches. (Lewis)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1053113
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 334992.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 1147.

Books
- Corbett, E., 1962, History of Spelsbury (Wychwood Press)
  Potts, W., 1907, in Page, Wm (ed), 'Ancient Earthworks' VCH Oxfordshire Vol. 2 p. 334 online transcription
  Lewis, Samual, 1848, A topographical Dictionary of England online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Ray, Keith, 1991, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter Vol. 21 p. 82, 84-85 (plan)
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- The VCH reference to Beesley was to a hand-written note add to the author copy of History of Banbury.

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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