Bygrave House

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

Moated work of considerable size licensed 1386 to Sir John Thornbury, a soldier with long experience as a mercenary in Europe. The licence was for 'two houses within is manor'. PastScape records as Medieval manorial complex and ?associated gardens. The lack of castle name might mean that this site was just a manor house, but it is a large and high status site so is unlikely not to have had some level of fortification, but the size and layout of the earthworks do not suggest serious fortification of castle like quality.
Pentagonal ditched enclosure round a square moat immediately south of the parish church, which was rebuilt in the fourteenth century. To the west is a triangular ditched area which, with a larger rectangular one to the east, makes the whole complex a 'double square'. (Renn)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TL26573610

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

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 365543
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 854 '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
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern) p43
    Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p327
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p221
    Renn, D.F., 1971, Medieval Castles in Hertfordshire (Chichester) p16
    RCHME, 1910, An inventory of the historical monuments in Hertfordshire p75-6
    Page, Wm (ed), 1912, VCH Hertfordshire Vol3 p215 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43606
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p419
• Journal Articles
  • Andrews, H.C., 1908-11, Transactions of the East Hertfordshire Archaeological Society Vol4 p280-99
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (1385-89) p235