Benwick

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

There are no visible remains

NameBenwick
Alternative Names
Historic CountryCambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely
Modern AuthorityCambridgeshire
1974 AuthorityCambridgeshire
Civil ParishBenwick

The Liber Eliensis mentions Benwick as some sort of outpost at Benwick manned by men of Geoffrey de Mandeville in 1143. There is no further mention of any fortification in the vill, and there are no surviving earthworks in the parish to suggest precisely where this site might have been. Whatever sort of fortification this may have been, it was almost certainly built de novo in the 1140s. (Lowerre 2004)

Gatehouse Comments

Vanished, had some kind of garrison in 1143. The fenland nature of the area means this outpost must have been in the area of the modern village and is now built over. The site was naturally defended and Geoffrey de Mandeville's men may merely have been garrisoned in the village with no artificial defences.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceTL341905
Latitude52.4954986572266
Longitude-0.0243999995291233
Eastings534100
Northings290500
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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

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Books

  • Lowerre, A.G., 2005, Placing Castles in the Conquest. Landscape, Lordship and Local Politics in the South-Eastern Midlands, 1066-1100 (Oxford: John and Erica Hedges Ltd: BAR British Series 385) p. 231
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 40

Primary Sources

  • Blake, E.O. (ed), 1962, Liber Eliensis (Royal Historical Society Camden Third Series 92) p. 328

Other

  • Lowerre, A.G., 2004, Placing Castles in the Conquest. Landscape, Lordship and Local Politics in the South-Eastern Midlands, 1066-1100 (PhD thesis: Boston College) p. 485-6