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King Johns Castle, Kineton

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

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
  Confidence: This site was certainly a medieval fortification or palace.   Earthworks remains.
The earthwork and buried remains of King John's Castle, a motte and bailey castle. It is thought that Richard I granted Kineton to his brother John in the late C12 who in turn granted it to Stephen de Seagrave in circa 1216. The motte is located at the south eastern end of the bailey and has been artificially raised. The flat-topped mound has a diameter of 44m at its base and stands some 2m high. It is surrounded by a ditch which separates the motte from the bailey. Most of its circuit has become infilled over time, but the ditch will survive as a buried feature. The bailey has a 'D'-shaped plan and is thought to have originally been bounded by a bank, which remains visible in places as a low, intermittent earthwork. Until recent years the bailey was occupied by allotments and now takes the form of a raised, levelled area with the ground falling away gradually beyond.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP32805095

Air Photo from multimap logo

Air Photo and general mapping

1st edition OS Map from old maps logo

Mid to late 19th century maps

Modern Map from Ordnance Survey logo

Landscape form and features

Modern Map from streetmap logo

General location and route planning

Geograph British Isles geography.org.uk logo
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 335431
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 1183 '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.

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes. I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself.
The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.
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This record last updated on Wednesday, October 28, 2009

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