Bishopstrow House

Has been described as a Rejected Timber Castle (Motte)

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains

NameBishopstrow House
Alternative Names
Historic CountryWiltshire
Modern AuthorityWiltshire
1974 AuthorityWiltshire
Civil ParishBishopstrow

The notion that a castle mound lies between Bishopstow Farm and Bishopstow House ... is undoubtedly mistaken, and apparently based on confusion between the tradition of a castle in the village and the mis-identification of a mutilated round barrow. (Crieghton)

One of two barrows shown on Hoare's map and is included on the OS 1" First Edition. Grinsell suggests it to be a castle mound, 40 paces in diameter and 16 feet high.

Mrs Cunnington (1926) describes the building of the present farm and house at Bishopstrow as standing within earthworks which are apparently the outer bailey, with the remains of the motte and inner bailey traceable in a grass field on the east.

The published mound may be a large barrow.

It is ditchless and at the edge of a low plateau whereby it is 2.2.m. high on the N. and 4.0m. high on the S. No trace of any baileys can be seen and the view that this is possibly a motte cannot be substantiated by ground inspection. An area of at least 15 acres is enclosed by a sunken road and it may be this which Mrs. Cunnington considered to be the outer bailey (F1 NVQ 16-MAY-67).

Originally recorded as Bishopstow 2a by Goddard.

A bowl barrow located immediately east of Bishopstrow House. The barrow mound measures 52 metres by 50 metres and the flat top is 10 metres in diameter. The northern edge of the mound has been truncated by the construction of a tennis court. The barrow appears on an 18th century map of sites around Warminster. Scheduled. (PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

The site is much more typical of a barrow of which there are others in the near area. The Bury is a place-name south of the river, nearer the church and in a position more likely to be a manorial centre.

- Philip Davis

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceST898442
Latitude51.1977386474609
Longitude-2.14735007286072
Eastings389800
Northings144290
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Grinsell, L.V., 1957, Pugh, R.B. and Crittall, Elizabeth (ed), VCH Wiltshire Vol. 1 Part 1 p. 160
  • Cunnington, M.E., 1949 (4edn), An Introduction to the Archaeology of Wiltshire: From the Earliest Times to the Pagan Saxons (Devizes: C.H. Woodward) p. 155
  • Hoare, Sir R.C., 1812, The Ancient History of Wiltshire Vol. 1, Station 2 Map

Journals

  • Creighton, O.H., 2000, 'Early Castles in the Medieval Landscape of Wiltshire' Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol. 93 p. 112 online copy
  • Cunnington, 1926 March 4, Wiltshire Gazette
  • Goddard, E.H., 1913-4, Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol. 38 p. 205 online copy