Sturminster Newton Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Piddlewood; Stourminster Newton Castle; The Bridge

In the civil parish of Sturminster Newton. In the historic county of Dorset (Modern Authority of Dorset, 1974 county of Dorset).

Fragments of domestic building of C14 manor house built within earthworks of earlier castle, formed from Iron Age hill fort, recorded as provisioned in 1208. Rubble with ashlar dressings. Roofless and rained but stands almost to roof height. Originally 2 storeys. Rectangular plan with possible remains of screens passage to the north. Remains of several archways and openings. Piddlewood is a castle listed by Harvey as being known to exist but having no remains. Wilton considers this to be another name for Sturminster Newton. Harvey does list Sturminster Newton seperately. However, as Piddles Wood is 1km SE of Struminster Newton it seems likely that Wilton is correct. PastScape does not mention earlier medieval castle.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 102390)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST78471349

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 202251
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 2 054 047 B; 2 054 047 A '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.

• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p645
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern) p30
    Pomeroy, Colin, 1998, Discover Dorset Castles and Forts (Dovecote Press) p42-3
    Wilton, Phil,1995, Castles of Dorset (Wimborne)
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p69 [slight]
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p128, 130 [Piddlewood]
    Taylor, Christopher, 1974, Fieldwork in medieval archaeology p72
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Pevsner, N. and Newman J., 1972, Buildings of England: Dorset (London) p407-8
    RCHME, 1970, An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset. Vol3: central p282-3, 247 [plan]
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Warne, 1872, Ancient Dorset (Bournemouth) p259-60
    Hutchins, J., 1861-73 (3edn), History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset (Blandford) Vol4 p339
• Journal Articles
  • Hawkes, John, 1992, 'Sturminster Newton Castle, Sturminster Newton' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Vol114 p249
    Bertelot, R.Grosvenor, 1943, 'Vanished Mediaeval Castles of Dorset' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Vol66 p68-69
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p141, 432
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol5 p107 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl05lelauoft