Baginton Castle

In the civil parish of Baginton. In the historic county of Warwickshire (Modern Authority of Warwickshire, 1974 county of Warwickshire).

Castle, probably rebuilt by Sir William Bagot c1397, although there appears to have been a castle here before this. Henry, Duke of Hereford (later Henry IV), was entertained here. During the next two centuries Baginton passed through several hands. Leland, writing in 1535-43, describes the castle as 'now desolate'. At Dugdale's time only the 'moat' and heaps of rubbish survived. In C18 one of the Bromleys levelled the site, filling the moat and concealing any masonry which was still visible. The original castle was probably the work of Geoffrey Savage in the time of Henry I (1100-35). The site is on a steep slope above the River Sowe and it is likely that it was originally a motte and bailey, within which a dwelling house was erected. Part of a building, probably Sir William Bagot's castle, has been excavated between 1933-48 exposing the foundations of a rectangular building with a stair turret and moat belonging to the fortified house.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 307886)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP34137474

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 335809
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 2676; 5296 '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.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/140/bagintoncastle.htm
    http://timetrail.warwickshire.gov.uk/detail.aspx?monuid=WA2676
    http://timetrail.warwickshire.gov.uk/detail.aspx?monuid=WA5296
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/baginton.html
• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p361-3
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p263 [slight]
    Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p28-9 [plan]
    Salter, Mike, 1992, Castles and Moated Mansions of Warwickshire (Malvern) p17
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p481
    Pevsner, Nikolaus and Wedgwood, Alexandra, 1966, The buildings of England: Warwickshire p84 [slight]
    Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1951 VCH Warwickshire Vol6 p22-3
    Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1947, VCH Warwickshire Vol4 p100
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p345
• Journal Articles
  • Moore, P. and Palmer, N., 1995, West Midlands Archaeology Vol37 p71-2
    1960, Medieval Archaeology Vol4 p146 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Edwards, J.H., 1953, Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol69 p44-49
    Chatwin, P.B., 1947-8, 'Castles in Warwickshire' Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol67 p13-16
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/warkseng.html#warks4]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p477
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol5 p11 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl05lelauoft
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Peter Moore, Gavin Lines and Nicholas Palmer, 1993, Survey of earthworks adjacent to Baginton Castle, Warwickshire