Bengeworth castle, Evesham
Has been described as a Certain Timber Castle (Other/Unknown)
There are no visible remains
| Name | Bengeworth castle, Evesham |
| Alternative Names | |
| Historic Country | Worcestershire |
| Modern Authority | Worcestershire |
| 1974 Authority | Hereford and Worcester |
| Civil Parish | Evesham |
The estate of Bengeworth, to the east of Evesham, was disputed between the abbeys of Evesham and Worcester in the medieval period and its early history is obscure. In Domesday Book it was split between the Abbot of Evesham and Urse d'Abitot, the Sheriff of Worcester (VCH Worcs 2, 397-8). The latter part of Bengeworth was subsequently held by the Beauchamp family, the hereditary sheriffs of Worcestershire, and a castle was built near the bridge in the mid-12th century (ibid, 398). Bengeworth castle was subsequently captured and demolished by the abbot (ibid, 399). (Dalwood and Bryant)
The Beauchamps had by this time fortified their position by erecting a castle at the head of the bridge which connected Evesham and Bengeworth, and during the abbacy of William de Andeville (1149-59) considerable friction seems to have existed between his house and that of Walter de Beauchamp, son and successor of William. The latter, taking advantage of the wars in Stephen's reign, crossed the Avon into the abbot's territory, destroyed the walls of the abbey cemetery, and laid waste other property of the church; (Chron. de Evesham (Rolls Ser.), 100) for these sacrilegious acts he was at once excommunicated with his accomplices by Abbot William, of whose courage the chronicler is very proud.(ibid) An encounter followed between the abbot's men and those of William de Beauchamp, in which many of the latter were killed, among them a knight named Abetot, who was buried, unreconciled to the Church, outside the cemetery at Elmley.(ibid) The abbot carried his victory still further, took possession of William de Beauchamp's castle, and destroyed it to the foundations; and, having done so, he made and consecrated a cemetery there.(ibid) A plot of ground adjacent to the north-east angle of the bridge was still known in the early part of the nineteenth century as 'the castle,' and probably pointed out the site of the Beauchamps' stronghold
Considerable traces of the moat were also to be seen, though said to be arched over. (May) The cemetery which the abbot made there must therefore have disappeared, since it could not have occupied the same situation as the cemetery, now closed, which surrounded the old church. (VCH)
Not scheduled
Not Listed
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | SP041436 |
| Latitude | 52.0913581848145 |
| Longitude | -1.94140994548798 |
| Eastings | 404110 |
| Northings | 243670 |
