Bampton; The Mote

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Baumton; Bachentun; Baketun

In the civil parish of Bampton. In the historic county of Devon (Modern Authority of Devon, 1974 county of Devon).

Motte with possibly part of the bailey surviving. A castle was (re)built here in 1336, with an escarpment of 40ft. The bailey is no longer visible. Licence to crenellate granted to Richard Cogan in 1336. A baronial castle was first mentioned here in 1135, but the estates date back to the Conquest and the castle may date back to then.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Fortified Manor House.

The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.

Earthworks remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SS95902253

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape Defra ELS number; 36568

Books

Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p695
Higham, Robert A., 1999, 'Castles, Fortified Houses and Fortified Towns in the Middle Ages' in Kain, R. and Ravenhill, W., Historical Atlas of South-West England (University of Exeter Press) p136-43
Salter, Mike, 1999, The Castles of Devon and Cornwall (Malvern) p48
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p64 [slight]
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p115
Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p183
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
Finberg, H.P.R., 1964, 'Uffculme' in Lucerna p204-21
Sanders, I.J., 1960, English Baronies p5
Wall, C., 1906, in Page, Wm (ed), 'Ancient Earthworks' VCH Devon Vol1 p616
Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p21-2

Journal Articles

Wilson-North, R., 1991, 'Bampton Castle: an earthwork survey by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol49
Higham, R. and Hamlin, A., 1990, 'Bampton Castle, Devon: history and Archaeology' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol48
Higham, R.A., 1988, 'Devon Castles: an annotated list' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol46 p142-9
Higham, R.A., 1982, 'Early Castles in Devon' Château Gaillard Vol9-10 p101-116
[Hamlin], 1970, Medieval Archaeology Vol14 p176 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
Gray, 1947, Somerset Archaeological Society Vol93 p14-16

Guidebooks

1994, Bampton Castle, Devon Archaeological Society Field Guide No10

Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)

Calendar of Charter Rolls Vol4 p353
Potter, K.R. (ed), 1955, Gesta Stephani, the Deeds of Stephen (London: Nelson)

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