Wambrook Castle

Has been described as a Rejected Timber Castle (Other/Unknown)

There are no visible remains

NameWambrook Castle
Alternative Names
Historic CountrySomerset
Modern AuthoritySomerset
1974 AuthoritySomerset
Civil ParishWambrook

The best candidate for the 'castle' in Castle Hill Wood is an enclosure on sloping pasture, the N side being a field boundary removed in the C19. The whole can be seen faintly on the ground and on aerial photographs. (Somerset HER)

ST 29400706. An enclosure in sloping pastureland, faintly visible on the ground and on an A.P. Its north side, a hedgerow, was removed in the 19th century. It is possibly the castle inferred by the name Castle Wood (Carter).

No enclosure is visible in the pasture field. A drainage ditch parallels the western boundary of the field. The ground is uneven and of a poor nature. The combination of the ditch and the general ground condition might have led to the supposition of an earthwork here (F1 NJA 28-JUL-82). (PastScape)

In the extreme south of the parish Castle wood is recorded in 1422, probably the home of Laurence du Chastel in 1311. (VCH)

Very poorly defined earthworks and place name evidence. (Prior 2004. reject)

Gatehouse Comments

A not unusual construction of a possible castle from some vague earthworks and a place name. Place name evidence is always difficult but it is rare to find an explanation as clear as that given in the VCH. There are some additional nearby 'Castley' field-names which can also be dismissed as evidence of a castle here.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceST294070
Latitude50.8587303161621
Longitude-3.00443005561829
Eastings329400
Northings107060
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

No photos available. If you can provide pictures please contact Castlefacts

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Books

  • Dunning, R. (ed), 1978, VCH Somerset Vol. 4 p. 222-36 (tenurial history) online transcription
  • Carter, R. Wood, P. and Parmiter, M., 1977, Parish Surveys in Somerset - Wambrook (Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society) p. 13

Other

  • Prior, Stuart, 2004, "Winning Strategies" An Archaeological Study of Norman Castles in the Landscapes of Somerset, Monmouthshire and County Meath, 1066-1186 (PhD thesis; University of Bristol) Vol. 2 p. 128 (reject) Download via EThOS