Benington Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Bennington; The Lordship; Benyngton

In the civil parish of Benington. In the historic county of Hertfordshire (Modern Authority of Hertfordshire, 1974 county of Hertfordshire).

Earthwork of a late C11 motte and bailey castle within the grounds of Benington Lordshire. A keep on the east side of the motte was constructed in 1136 and destroyed in 1212. Field investigations carried out in 1971 and 1990 found the earthworks to the east and north were in good condition, but destoryed on the east and south. The wall of the keep survive to a height of 2.5m. A curtain wall and imitation gate house were constructed in 1832. Ruined keep of medieval ringwork castle. 1130's for the de Valognes family, slighted in 1176/7 by Henry II, garrisoned again in 1192/3, destroyed 1212 after Robert Fitz Walter was outlawed. Flint rubble walls 7 - 8 ft thick with some herringbone-coursed flint facing and oolitic limestone quoins and plinth offset of dressed stone with diagonal tooling, exposed on exterior N wall. A small square stone tower about 44ft x 41ft with pilaster buttresses at the middle and ends of each face. A small square NE annexe may be original. Demolition involved removal of one side entirely. S wall is reduced to footings and W wall ends at a door jamb. Other walls stand to some 9 foot. A fallen mass of masonry lies on the NE annexe and an imitation Norman doorway was inserted c1842.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 159599)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TL296236

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 365314
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 29 '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.

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/166/benington.htm
    http://www.beningtonlordship.co.uk/
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/benington.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern) p39
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p104
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p219
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p186-7
    Pevsner, Nikolas and Cherry, Bridget, 1977, The Buildings of England Hertfordshire (Harmondsworth) p94
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p105-7
    Renn, D.F., 1971, Medieval Castles in Hertfordshire (Chichester; Phillimore) p9 and 11 [plans], 14
    Page, Wm (ed), 1912, VCH Hertfordshire Vol3 p73-4
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co) [listed as in Essex]
    RCHME, 1910, An inventory of the historical monuments in Hertfordshire p51-2
    Montgomerie, 1908, Page, Wm (ed), VCH Hertfordshire Vol2 p112-3
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p126-7
• Journal Articles
  • King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    Renn, D.F., 1961, Antiquaries Journal Vol41 p96-7
    Renn, D.F., 1960, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol23 p16, 20
    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
    Braun, Hugh, 1938, Proceedings of the St Albans and Hertfordshire Archaeological Society Vol5 p204-5
    Official Publications of the Walthamstow Antiquarian Society No35 p10
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Pipe Roll 23 Henry II p144; Richard I p2
    Annales Monastici Vol3 p35
    Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum p217
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/buckseng.html#herts8]