Desborough Castle, High Wycombe
Has been described as a Certain Timber Castle (Ringwork), and also as a Certain Siege Work
There are earthwork remains
| Name | Desborough Castle, High Wycombe |
| Alternative Names | Disborough; West Wycombe; The Roundabout; Wicumbe |
| Historic Country | Buckinghamshire |
| Modern Authority | Buckinghamshire |
| 1974 Authority | Buckinghamshire |
| Civil Parish | High Wycombe |
Norman ringwork, partly overlying a mound, possibly a barrow reused as a Saxon moot. Both lie within an enclosure, possibly a slight univallate hillfort of the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age. The defences of the ringwork enclose an area of roughly 0.5 hectares and consist of a single rampart and ditch with a break in the middle of the south east side. Finds indicate the existence of a substantial building within the enclosure during the medieval period. West of the ringwork lie the remains of a probably once circular mound, cut through by the ringwork ditch and thought to represent the remains of a bowl barrow. (PastScape)
The rampart, of the IA fort, on the south is 16ft high and 63ft wide and the ditch is 12ft deep and 57ft wide. Desborough Castle for all its strength exhibits the classic characteristics of an Iron Age settlement. It is set into a slope, its entrance is at the change of slope and the rampart of 'hood' fades away on the downhill side until it is non-existent. So skilfully is this done that from the outside the inner slope of the ditch presents a remarkably uniform face. The earthwork thus created is a large platform protected on its upper side by a strong rampart and open on its downhill side where it overlooks and dominates to Wye Valley. (PastScape)
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 Reference | SU847933 |
| Latitude | 51.6323089599609 |
| Longitude | -0.777409970760345 |
| Eastings | 484710 |
| Northings | 193320 |
