Laxton Castle

In the civil parish of Laxton And Moorhouse. In the historic county of Nottinghamshire (Modern Authority of Nottinghamshire, 1974 county of Nottinghamshire).

Medieval motte and bailey castle, consisting of a fine motte with an inner and an outer bailey. A hall is documented on the site in 1204 and is thought to have stood in the outer bailey, along with a dovecote which was built in 1213-14. The outer bailey also contains the remains of a manor house, built on the site in C16. The bailey may have been modified at this time to create a garden setting for the house. The motte stands circa 10m high and is surrounded by a ditch. A small mound in the centre of the summit post-dates the castle and may represent the remains of a windmil mound or possibly a prospect mound, designed to provide views over the gardens. The earthwork remains include building platforms, a possible well and cellars, two hollow ways and a number of fishponds. Royal residence for a few years in early C13.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SK72046746

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape Defra ELS number; 322622

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/120/laxtoncastle.htm
    http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/autumnexcursion1902/laxton1.htm
    http://mahan.wonkwang.ac.kr/link/med/economy/agricul/laxsurv.html
    http://www.thorotonsociety.org.uk/gateway/places/castles/castles1.htm
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p87
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p201
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p380
    Chambers, 1964, Laxton: The Last English Open Field Village (HMSO) p32-3
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p979-80
    Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1951, The Buildings of England: Nottinghamshire (London) p94-5
    Stevenson, W., 1906, VCH Nottinghamshire Vol1 p306-7
• Journal Articles
  • Speight, Sarah, 2006, 'Castles and Settlement in Rural Nottinghamshire: Laxton, Egmanton and Greasley' Chateau Gaillard Vol22 p325-34
    Challis, K. and Speight, S., 2005, 'Laxton, the castle' in Speight, S. (ed) 'Archaeology in Nottinghamshire: 2004-2005' Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire Vol109 p157-60
    Speight, Sarah, 2005, 'East Midlands Castles - A Research Agenda' Castle Studies Group Bulletin Vol18 p148-49 [reconstruction]
    Speight, Sarah, 1994, 'Early Medieval Castles in Nottinghamshire' Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire Vol98 p59-61
    Cameron, A., 1980,' Laxton before 1635' East Midlands Georgrapher Vol7.6 p219-26
    Chalkley Gould, 1907, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol13 p59-60
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/lincseng.html#nots7]