Deddington Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Dedington

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

C11 motte and bailey castle, with a bailey to the West of the motte, and a ditched enclosure to the east which contained 4 fishponds. The motte and its western bailey survive as earthworks whilst the eastern enclosure is visible as a cropmark. The earliest reference to the castle is 1204 when it was in royal hands. However, excavations have shown that it was built on a Saxon site, fragmentary buildings and associated artefacts, being present. In its initial phase, the castle consisted of a motte and large bailey. At this time, or shortly after, an L-shaped hall was constructed, and it is thought that this was built by Bishop Odo of Bayeux. While this was in use, an inner bailey was created. By circa 1200, a substantial curtain wall had been built with gatehouse into the outer bailey, the motte had been levelled, and a range of domestic buildings, including C12 & C13 chapels, created. It was refurbished from the mid C12 until the early decades of C13, and then suffered a long decline.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP474311

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 337067
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 2543 '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.deddington.org.uk/history/castle.html
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.180
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/deddington.html
• Books
  • Elliot, Julia (ed), 2005, Heritage Unlocked; Guide to free sites in London and the South East (London: English Heritage) p98-9
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern) p69
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p204
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p385
    Crossley, Alan (ed), 1983, VCH Oxfordshire Vol11 p90-91
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p219
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Colvin, 1963, History of Deddington (S.P.C.K.) p12-14 and elsewhere
    Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p28
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Potts, W., 1907, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Oxfordshire Vol2 p324-5
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol1 p154-5 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland01mack#page/154/mode/1up
• Journal Articles
  • Ivens, R.J., 1984, ‘Deddington Castle, Oxfordshire, and the English honour of Bayeux' Oxoniensia Vol49 p101–19
    Ivens, R.J., 1983, ‘Deddington Castle, Oxfordshire. A summary of excavations 1977–1979’ South Midlands Archaeology Vol13 p34–41
    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
    1957, Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society Vol51 p52
    Jope, E.M. and Threlfall, R.I., 1946-7, ‘Recent Mediaeval finds in the Oxford District' Oxoniensia Vol11-12 p167-8
    Marshall, 1879, North Oxfordshire Archaeological Society Vol14 p17-18
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p384
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p332