Beaudesert Castle, Henley

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; The Mount

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

Castle documented during C12 and in ruins by the mid C16. The castle was in existence by circa 1140 but its importance probably declined when the De Montfort estates passed to the Earl of Warwick circa 1369. It was again mentioned in a roll account of 1411, but was not mentioned in a survey of 1547. Earthwork features include fish ponds and bailey, ridge and furrow also present. The extant remains of the castle consist of a flat topped oval artificial mound surrounded by a ditch, covering an area of about 2 acres; a raised bank of earth crossing the ditch to the south-west connects this moated 'keep' with its accompanying courtyard. Excavation by Time Team found Norman masonry castle was demolished and later replaced by C13 buildings. Sometimes said to have been licenced in 1306 (TimeTeam, for instance, broadcast this erroneous statement) and I suspect some sources may give building dates based on this error, but this licence refers to Beaudesert Hall, Staffordshire.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP15606613

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 331123
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 1220 '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/beaudesert.html
    http://www.courts.fsnet.co.uk/beaudesert.htm
    http://timetrail.warwickshire.gov.uk/detail.aspx?monuid=WA1220
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/beaudesert.html
• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p343
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p255
    Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p30
    Salter, Mike, 1992, Castles and Moated Mansions of Warwickshire (Malvern) p18
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p481
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p185
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Pevsner, Nikolaus and Wedgwood, Alexandra, 1966, The buildings of England: Warwickshire p89
    Cooper W., 1946, Henley in Arden p77
    Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1945, VCH Warwickshire Vol3 p45-46
    Cooper, 1931, Records of Beaudesert (Leeds) p.xxii-xxiv
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Willoughby Gardner, 1904, in Doubleday, H.A. and Page, Wm (eds), VCH Warwickshire Vol1 p355-7
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol1 p351 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland01mack#page/351/mode/1up
• Journal Articles
  • Coulson, C., 1994, 'Freedom to Crenellate by Licence - An Historiographical Revision' Nottingham Medieval Studies Vol38 p130
    Hooke, D., 1984, ‘Henley in Arden (Warwickshire): Beaudesert part II' West Midlands Archaeology Vol27 p63–4
    1975, West Midlands Archaeology p18-9
    King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    Chatwin, P.B., 1947-8, 'Castles in Warwickshire' Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol67 p20-2
• 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] p452-3
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/warkseng.html#warks10]
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Time Team (Mike Aston et al), 2002 March 17 (1st broadcast), 'Beaudesert Warwickshire' Time Team TV Programme (Time Team, a Videotext/Picture House production for Channel 4)