Castle Combe

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Castell of Cumbe

In the civil parish of Castle Combe. In the historic county of Wiltshire (Modern Authority of Wiltshire, 1974 county of Wiltshire).

The site occupies a commanding position on top of a hill over looking the valley, the steep slopes providing natural defence. Probaly Iron Age in origin and reused by the Saxons. Reginald de Dunstanville, became the first Baron, and is credited with building in 1140 AD the "Castell of Cumbe". Probably abandoned in C14. The keep tower seems to have remained conspicuous up to the end of C17. Camden's Britannia speaks of it as visible from Corsham some five miles distant. Also in the same century Aubrey refers to the Castle tower as "standing, strongly seated on a steep hill".
Motte with four baileys probably dating to AD1140. Chippenham College students exposed some walls under the direction Dr R Wilcox in 1991. There was a deer park created by the Dunstanvilles which was disparked in the 17th century. The shell keep tower was revealed during the removal of undergrowth and trees, and restoration work undertaken by a stone mason during November and December 2005. (Wilts SMR)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST839778

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape Defra ELS number; 208299 County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number; ST87NW450

• Web site links
  • http://www.ccombe.fsnet.co.uk/castle.htm
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/combe.html
    http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/smr/getsmr.php?id=2110
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, Index and Amendments to Mike Salter's English Castles Books (Malvern) p11
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern) p89
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p274-5
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p498
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p204
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Sanders, I.J., 1960, English Baronies, a study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327 (Oxford: Clarendon Press) p28
    Pugh, R.B. and Crittall, Elizabeth (ed), 1957, VCH Wiltshire Vol1 pt1 p264
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p219-22
    Scrope, G.P., 1852, History of the manor and Village of Castle Combe (London) esp p7-11
• Journal Articles
  • Creighton, O.H., 2000, 'Early Castles in the Medieval Landscape of Wiltshire' Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol93 p114
    1993, 'Excavations and Fieldwork in Wiltshire, 1991' Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol85 p159
    1992, 'Excavations and Fieldwork in Wiltshire, 1990' Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol84 p158
    King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    Palmes, J.W., 1967, 'Castle Combe', Archaeological Review Vol2 p24
    Scrope, G.P., 1855, 'The Manor and Ancient Barony of Castle Combe' Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol2 p134-6 [abridgment of 1852 book]
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/wilshireeng.html#wilts6]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p503