Radcot; The Garrison

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Ratrotam

In the civil parish of Grafton And Radcot. In the historic county of Oxfordshire (Modern Authority of Oxfordshire, 1974 county of Oxfordshire).

Suggested Stephanic castle site at a strategic crossing of the River Thames.. There is documentary evidence of a Stephanic castle at Radcot built and taken in 1142. This castle was presumably sited close to the Thames crossing at a site now called The Garrison. The Garrison is recorded in PastScape as "Large medieval moat altered by later drainage works. Medieval pottery, C13 or C14 in date, and roofing tile have been found. Field investigations in 1973 noted no visible traces of buildings within the interior. The examination of aerial photographs as part of the Thames Valley Mapping Project in 1996 found it to be rectangular in plan, measuring 130m by 110m with cropmarks of a linear ditch, possibly part of an enclosure within the interior. A linear bank, 64m long abutted the southeastern corner of the moat, this may have formed part of a second enclosure." Leland wrote 'this used to be a strong tower and is now a mansion house' of the Bessel family. What did Leland mean by 'strong tower' here? Omen writes was a peel-tower apparently built by the Lovells in C15.
The writer of the 'Gesta Stephani' states that in 1141 the Empress Maud built a castle at Radcot, surrounded by water and marsh. This may have been a flimsy affair as it is listed with another 'in the village of Bampton on the tower of the church there' (Oxfordshire HER)
Site of TimeTeam evaluation excavation in May 2008. A square building had been identified by earlier investigations and this was re-examined as is suggested to be dated c. 1100 and to be similar to the bishop's castle at Witney (although I would suggest also considering St George's tower at Oxford Castle.). This was a square building with 4m thick walls 'the excavation revealed a cross wall on the interior of the keep, which was added later than a central pillar built at the same time as the main walls. The archaeologists speculated that this cross wall, which showed signs of having been added in a hurry, may have been part of Matilda's fortifications as Stephen's army approached. ... the keep didn't survive for long. Pottery finds suggest it was demolished towards the end of the 12th century, having been built barely a hundred years previously.' (Time Team website) The surviving earthworks are complicated by C17 Civil War entrenchments, the later medieval manor house and associated earthworks (?moat and drainage ditches) and possible Roman earlier works.
The C12 tower is of considerable size and one would expect it to be part of a castle complex, with a good sized bailey and associated outbuildings. However, Radcot was not a holding of one of the great lords and isolated towers of this age are not entirely unknown (see St Leonard's Tower, West Malling).The Gesta Stephani does not call Radcot a 'castle' and the other site mentioned, Bampton, was a temporally fortified church. The site at Radcot, although a strong tower, might be better thought of as a domestic house (possibly built by an Englishman trying to express himself as a 'Norman' through his new 'military' stone building) temporally fortified. The walls may be so thick because of over engineering by Saxon workers who were not familiar with masonry work, particularly the tricky flint rubble (Tall thin walls require very solid foundations, accurate leveling and skilled builders.)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SU28489964

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 1392373; 225746
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 2643 '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.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/2009/radcot/index.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern) p75
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p387
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p289
    Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p28
• Journal Articles
  • Jope, E.M., 1948, 'Recent Mediaeval Finds in the Oxford Region' Oxoniensia Vol13 p72-3
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Sewell, R.C. (ed), 1846, Gesta Stephani, Regis Anglorum et Ducis Normannorum p87, 88 http://books.google.com/books?id=MK8KAAAAYAAJ
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p372
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Time Team (Mike Aston et al), 2009, Feb 15 (1st broadcast), 'Anarchy in the UK' Time Team TV Programme (Time Team, a Videotext/Picture House production for Channel 4)