The Gatehouse website record for Benson

In the civil parish of Benson. In the historic county of Oxfordshire (Modern Authority of Oxfordshire, 1974 county of Oxfordshire).

Said to be castle here. Reputed to be site of palace of the early West-Saxons kings. Area now built over with modern housing and no remains visible.
A considerable earthwork between the Church and the river is mentioned by several old writers. Hearne states that: "The Castle stood on the west side of the present Church, where a few years since a great quantity of Bones, some of which were Humane, and the rest the Bones of several kinds of Animals, besides strange old Spurs, Bridles, Swords, etc., was dug up. And 'tis on this side of the Town where there are still to be seen Tokens of the Ditch that surrounded it in old Time."... In Brewer's "Oxfordshire," 1813, we read: "To the west of the Church are a bank and trench, which seem to have been of a square form. Three sides of the embankment are now much defaced; but the part of the north retains considerable boldness." (Field)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SU615915

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 242024
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 2099 '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.

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations. 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. I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself.
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.

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