Canfield Castle, Great Canfield

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Castle Canfield

In the civil parish of Great Canfield. In the historic county of Essex (Modern Authority of Essex, 1974 county of Essex).

On low ground close to the River Roding. Well preserved mount and bailey earthwork. Origin doubtful but possibly a castle of the de Veres, Earls of Oxford. In plan the site consists of large moated mount, a horseshoe shaped bailey on the south side and traces of a weaker enclosure on the west. The moats are fed by a small stream and could be reinforced by closing a dam. The mount is 48ft high x 280ft in diameter at base (east-west). There is a distinct berm, about 10ft wide, upon the slope but it does not run round the moat at the same level. There is no apparent entrance. On the summit is a small mound. The moat is now nearly dry and c45ft wide at the bottom, on average. The mount is thickly planted. No trace of masonry at the summit. The bailey to the south of the mount originally had a double rampart and ditch but the outer ditch has disappeared, except on the east. The inner rampart is c10ft above the interior level and 20ft above the bottom of the ditch which is 100ft wide from crest to crest. On the east, the outer rampart is 5-8ft above the ditch and 5ft above the exterior level. The outer ditch is very slight. The bailey entrance appears to have been at the north east corner. A ditch on the west side leads into the bailey moat at a higher level. Another ditch, parallel with the south wall of the churchyard, communicates with the ditch of the mount and a large pond further to the west may mark the site of the west arm of the enclosure. Considered, as an alternative to Clavering, as the preconquest 'Robert's Castle' recorded in 1052. Renn (1959) write sited here from earlier position uphill 900 yard away. I've no idea what this supposed earlier site was and there seems no evidence to suggest this is not the original site of the castle.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TL595179

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 372888
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 4299 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Books
  • Neville, David, 2003, Lost Castles of Essex (Ian Henry) p25-7
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern) p29
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p70
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p143
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p238
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    RCHME, 1921, An inventory of the historical monuments in Essex. Vol2 [central and south-west] p91-2
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Gould, Chalkley, 1903, in Doubleday, Arthur and Page, Wm (eds), VCH Essex Vol1 p290-1
• Journal Articles
  • Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' The Archaeological Journal Vol143 p313
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
    Renn, D.F., 1959, 'Mottes: a classification' Antiquity Vol33 p106-12
    Downman, 1898, Essex Archaeological Society [new ser] Vol6 p225-7
• Guidebooks
  • Downman, 1897, Great Canfield Mount [reprint of Essex Arch. Soc. Article]