Gannocks Castle is located in the village of

Tempsford Tempsford is a village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England, about east north-east of the county town of Bedford. The village is split by the A1 Great North Road and is located just bef ...

, in the county of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

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 located 6 miles east of Great Barford Castle and 9 miles east of

Bedford Castle Bedford Castle was a large medieval castle in Bedford, England. Built after 1100 by Henry I of England, Henry I, the castle played a prominent part in both the civil war of the Anarchy and the First Barons' War. The castle was significantly ex ...

History

Though called a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

, it was in truth a

motte and bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...

fortified

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

with a manorial complex, built by the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

in the late 12th, or early 13th, century. It was built as a rectangular ward, enclosed by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

, with a

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

. The small

motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortificati ...

, located in the north-east section of the ward, is believed to have been the site of a

beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

or timber

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

. There is belief that the castle was built on the site of a 10th-century Danish Viking fort. This belief is because the Danish Vikings, who had landed in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

in 865, participated in a battle at

in 921, on the possible location where Gannocks castle was later built, although this is conjectural.

Present

There is still some evidence of the castle, in the form of earthworks, and the

still remains. Currently, the site is owned by

Central Bedfordshire Council Central Bedfordshire Council is the local authority for Central Bedfordshire, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functi ...

. The site is a

Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

, protected by law. A

geophysical survey Geophysical survey is the systematic collection of geophysical data for spatial studies. Detection and analysis of the geophysical signals forms the core of Geophysical signal processing. The magnetic and gravitational fields emanating from the ...

of the castle site and adjoining playing field was organised by the Friends of Gannock Castle and carried out on 29 June 2004, by

geophysical Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

s, in the form of a

Resistivity Electrical resistivity (also called volume resistivity or specific electrical resistance) is a fundamental specific property of a material that measures its electrical resistance or how strongly it resists electric current. A low resistivity i ...

and

Magnetometer A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, ...

survey. A second

of the surrounding fields to the west and south of the site was organised by the Friends of Gannocks Castle, and carried out on 1 December 2006, by

s, in the form of a Fluxgate

Gradiometer A gradiometer measures the gradient (numerical rate of change) of a physical quantity, such as a magnetic field or gravity. Types of gradiometer There are at least two types of gradiometer to measure magnetic fields: # ''Axial gradiometer''. ...

survey.

Restoration

Restoration of Gannocks Castle was begun in 1998, with an opening day Medieval fair on 19 June 2006. The local Member of Parliament, Mr Alistair Burt MP, was a guest speaker. The fair featured a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

re-enactment Reenactment, re-enactment or reënactment may refer to: Legislation * Consolidation bill, a bill that consolidates several Acts of Parliament into a single Act in the United Kingdom * Repeal with reenactment, where a law is replaced with one more ...

group, as well as wandering

minstrels A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. The term originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist enterta ...

and dancers. Numerous stalls were set up, with demonstrations of crafts,

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

, and medieval combat. Additional improvements to the site include the installation of benches and bird/bat boxes; restoration of a wildflower area; tree and scrub management; installation of an interpretation board and creation of a 'Heritage' trail leaflet. The Heritage Trail leaflet can be downloaded from the Tempsford websites below. A

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

was built across the Gannocks Castle

, which is wet throughout the year, to allow greater access to the site. The

was not dug into the site, allowing it to be removed at a future date with no damage to the site. The site contained extensive scrub which was cleared by the Friends of Gannocks Castle, Tempsford villagers and the Ivel & Ouse Countryside Project volunteers. Specialists were used when required. The wood was logged, dried, and used as fire wood by local villagers. Smaller cuttings were

mulch A mulch is a layer of material applied to the surface of soil. Reasons for applying mulch include conservation of soil moisture, improving soil fertility, fertility and health of the soil, reducing Weed control, weed growth, and enhancing the v ...

ed and spread across the site. The site is freely accessible in daylight hours. Car parking is by the side of Church Road,

and the site is signposted from the road.

External links

Local Heritage Gannock Castle Restoration PageTempsford Village website

References

{{reflist Castles in Bedfordshire Tourist attractions in Bedfordshire Scheduled monuments in Bedfordshire