Benefield Castle was sited in the village of

Lower Benefield Lower Benefield is a village on the A427 road in North Northamptonshire, England, near Oundle. It is part of the civil parish of Benefield Benefield is a civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, along the A427 road and about east of ...

, between the towns of

Corby Corby is a town and civil parish in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, northeast of Northampton. In 2021 it had a population of 68,164. From 1974 to 2021, it was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...

and

Oundle Oundle () is a market town and civil parish on the left bank of the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England, which had a population of 6,254 at the time of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. It is north of London and south-wes ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

at .

Early history

Benefield Castle is classed as a ring work, and is thought to have been constructed during the twelfth century. Ringworks were

Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to Ge ...

medieval fortifications consisting of some buildings surrounded a large ditch and surmounted by a timber

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...

or a stone wall. The exact date of the construction is not known, records however show that the castle is mentioned by name in documents dating to the thirteenth century. It may have one of the many fortifications create during the

anarchy Anarchy is a form of society without rulers. As a type of stateless society, it is commonly contrasted with states, which are centralized polities that claim a monopoly on violence over a permanent territory. Beyond a lack of government, it can ...

during the reign of King Stephen (1138–44). The castle was seized by King John in 1208, as the owner Hugh de Lisurs had failed to pay his debts. Henry III issued an order of restraint to his knights on 15 May 1264, after

Battle of Lewes The Battle of Lewes was one of two main battles of the conflict known as the Second Barons' War. It took place at Lewes in Sussex, on 14 May 1264. It marked the high point of the career of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and made ...

, stating that he had come to terms with the barons so they must be peaceful during their stay. An incident is recorded for the following year that men of

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

, the future king of England, who were housed at the castle attacked Biggin Manor and then crossed the river to loot cattle belonging to

, however they were repulsed and a counterattack allowed the owners to recover many of their cattle. Soon after this incident the castle was pulled down, so in documents of 1298 it is mentioned as "an old castle", by the year 1315, there were no buildings that remained standing so documents show that only the site of the castle is mentioned, and none of its buildings. The site is mentioned again as a ruin in 1378. John Leyland mentions the ruins in 1535 as '"the diche and mines of an old castelle" (the ditch and mines of an old castle). Bridges mentions that a part of the wall was standing in 1724, surrounding around an acre of land. The manor house appears to have survived long after the castle was pulled down and is mentioned by Bridges in 1445. By the mid eighteenth century the only structure that remained was a stone wall, while maps created during the nineteenth century show that the main gatehouse, the entrance of the castle was on its eastern side, facing the manor farm.

Remains today

Today only some of the earthworks are visible on the high ground on a natural spur on the western side of

. Archaeological evidence has suggested the evidence of buildings, both domestic and defensive, and a large platform on which they were constructed, the platform had rounded corners, and measured around , and was high. The large ditch, which was a common feature of such fortifications, survives and measures up to wide and deep, however its southern part has been infilled.

References

*Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, ''The David & Charles Book of Castles'', David & Charles, 1980.
{{Authority control Castles in Northamptonshire