Feckenham Court House

In the civil parish of Feckenham. In the historic county of Worcestershire (Modern Authority of Worcestershire, 1974 county of Hereford and Worcester).

The surviving buried and earthwork remains of Feckenham Court House, a medieval manorial moated site where the court of the Forest of Feckenham was held. Feckenham Manor, a high status Anglo-Saxon manor from about AD 804, had passed to the Crown by the time of the Doomesday survey. The manor was held by the crown for several centuries with references made to royal buildings on the site. The manor house was repaired in 1355 but was later demolished and the buildings removed by the Abbot of Evesham. The monument became the site of the court proceedings associated with Feckenham Forest. A prison, known as Bennets' Bower, is documented at the site, where in C16 manorial courts were also held. The court house fell into disrepair following deforestation in C17. During the reign of Charles II the site was planted and used to grow tobacco. The moated site covers and area of 1.62 hectares. Its boundary takes the form of an elliptical earthwork approximately 220m by 120m, consisting of an outer moat enclosing two concentric earthwork banks separated by a ditch. An excavation across a raised platform in the northern half of the monument revealed occupation dating from mid C12 to mid C14, with traces of both timber and stone buildings. The interior of the monument is now largely level and is used as a sports ground.
The site at Feckenham would be an entirely feasibly site for a fortification and certainly some moated sites seem to be modified small low mottes and the plan of the Feckenham site could well fit into this category of monument. Looking at the PastScape description above this site really does seem to be a high status site which seems to have all the aspects of a castle except the name and a motte (plus a history of growing tobacco, when any possible motte would probably have been levelled!).

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP00756154

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 328827
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record. In particular '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, or elsewhere.

• Books
  • James, T.B., 1990, The Palaces of Medieval England (London; Seaby) p50, 78
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p927-8
    Montgomerie, 1924, in Page, Wm and Willis-Bund, J.W. (eds), VCH Worcestershire Vol4 p425
    Page, Wm and Willis-Bund, J.W. (eds), 1913, VCH Worcestershire Vol3 p111, 115 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43095
• Journal Articles
  • 1914, Birmingham and Midland Institute, Birmingham Archaeological Society transactions, excursions and reports Vol45 p117