Maxey Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Makeseye

In the civil parish of Maxey. In the historic county of Northamptonshire (Soke of Peterborough) (Modern Authority of Peterborough; City of, 1974 county of Cambridgeshire).

Moated enclosure. licensed 1374 to William Thorp. Only moat survives.
Licence to embattle this moated manor was granted in 1374 - 1375. A C16 map in the Public Record Office has a picture of the castle, showing it to have had a curtain wall with high corner towers and a tall central tower or keep. There also appears to have been flood defences - 2 banks, the outer with a ditch parallel to the NE angle of the moat. Of the castle only the moat remains. Some of it was in ruins by Lelands' time and it was clear soon enough to be tilled by ridge and furrow. The remaining portion of the moat is water-filled; the island is part orchard and part garden. Resurveyed at 1/2500. At TF12980875 are the remains of a fish pond; surveyed at 1/2500. Remains of Maxey Castle medieval moat (not traced because shown on map) (A Spedding 23/03/1984, CUCAP AP AKO 26 used) Square central island - 50m across, surrounded by a wet moat on three sides. The other (SE side) has been largely infilled. A small rectangular fishpond next to Mill Road - the pond is dry and measures 45m NE/SE axis by 15m NW/SW axis c1.5m deep, moutlet channel, draining into boundary ditch. (City of Peterborough HER)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TF129088

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 350150
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 00639 '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, Index and Amendments to Mike Salter's English Castles Books (Malvern) p8
    Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p183
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p316
    RCHME, 1979, An inventory of the historical monuments in the County of Northampton. Vol2: Central Northamptonshire (HMSO) p502
    Downman, E.A., 1906, in Serjeantson, R.M., Ryland, W. and Adkins, D. (eds), VCH Northampton Vol2 p502
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p417
• Journal Articles
  • Jones, M.K., 1986, Lincolnshire History and Archaeology Vol21 p11
• 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 (1370-74) p434
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/huntseng.html#norts18]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p300, 302
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol5 p32 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl05lelauoft