Zouches Manor (also Zouches Castle) was an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, 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 t ...

moated manor in Fulbourn Fen, a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

in the village of

Fulbourn Fulbourn is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, with evidence of settlement dating back to Neolithic times. The village was probably established under its current name by 1200. The waterfowl-frequented stream after which it was named lies i ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is one of the historic Five Manors of Fulbourn and recorded to have existed 1066 AD to 1539 AD. Moat in Fulbourn Fen - geograph

Creation

The manor was built by Alan la Zouche, Earl of Brittany (the same family that held

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch (), also spelled Ashby de la Zouch, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire borders. Its population at the 2021 census was ...

in Leicestershire) in the 13th century on an earlier site. The moat ditch and platform are likely to have been constructed in the 12th or 13th century, obscuring who exactly built the structure. It came in the hands of the Zouches in 1230, following peace with Brittany. Alan la Zouche, then viscount of Rohan, granted his Cambridgeshire lands to

Roger la Zouch Sir Roger la Zouch was the instigator of the murder of Roger de Beler and also MP for Leicestershire in 1324, 1331 and 1337 and Sheriff of Warwickshire and Leicestershire during the 1330s. Ancestry Roger was the son of Roger la Zouch, Lord o ...

. The Zouches and their successors continued to hold Zouches Manor of the honour of Richmond into the 15th century in socage, rendering two gilt spurs yearly into the 15th century. After 1500 the tenure was reckoned as knight service.

Dunmowes Manor

It later came into ownership by the Docwra family when it was known as Dunmowes Manor. There is ambiguity over whether Zouches Manor and Dunmowes Manor are the same or whether the latter was built by the Dockra family in the 16th century on the site of the former. The Dockra (or Docwra) family has extensive history in the area. Dunmowes Manor took its name from the Norman surname Dunmowe (Saxon '''Dommauua''', modern English Dunmall'''). The Domesday Book recorded the family as holders of a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Dunmow. It is unclear if this is Dunmowes Manor in Fulbourn or the Essex villages 30 miles away at

Great Dunmow Great Dunmow is a historic market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It lies to the north of the A120 road, approximately midway between Bishop's Stortford and Braintree, Essex, Braintree, east of London Stanste ...

and

Little Dunmow Little Dunmow is a village situated in the Uttlesford district, in rural Essex, England, in the vale of the River Chelmer about east-southeast of the town of Great Dunmow. It can be reached from the Dunmow South exit of the A120 by following ...

Location

The location commands access to the village and the upland areas from

The Fens The Fens or Fenlands in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a system o ...

and was probably chosen to defend against attack from the Fens during troubles such as the

First Barons' War The First Barons' War (1215–1217) was a civil war in the Kingdom of England in which a group of rebellious major landowners (commonly referred to as English feudal barony, barons) led by Robert Fitzwalter waged war against John of England, K ...

in the 13th century and the battles between the

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

(to the south), Anglo-Saxons (in East Anglia) and

Belgae The Belgae ( , ) were a large confederation of tribes living in northern Gaul, between the English Channel, the west bank of the Rhine, and the northern bank of the river Seine, from at least the third century BC. They were discussed in depth b ...

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

invaders. The site has been extensively archaeologically researched.

References

{{coord, 52.1836, 0.2338, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Castles in Cambridgeshire Fulbourn