Sudeley Castle, Nuneaton

Has been described as a Rejected Masonry Castle, and also as a Rejected Fortified Manor House

There are no visible remains

NameSudeley Castle, Nuneaton
Alternative NamesGriff; Griffe
Historic CountryWarwickshire
Modern AuthorityWarwickshire
1974 AuthorityWarwickshire
Civil ParishNuneaton

Sudeley Castle has the remains of a fairly large moat; there is a little water in one corner, but generally it is only a shallow depression. It was the manor house of the Sudeleys; evidently it was a place of some importance but, apparently, not known as a Castle till comparatively recently (Chatwin) There are no visible remains of the manor house to be seen within the enclosed area of the moat, which is of normal homestead type, though in rather poor condition (OS record card 1967). Excavation indicates a 13th/14th century date and revealed the manor house. The name 'Castle' is a misnomer. The surrounding moat is not formidable. The N ditch was visible, but had been obscured by ploughing and the W part had been completely levelled. The moat is rhomboidal, some 51.8m wide on the E side. The N and S measured 73.1m and 65.8m respectively. No evidence for an internal bank was found and the interior was not raised above the surrounding land. Two sections were cut across the moat on the W and N sides. The moat was shallow, flat bottomed, and with gently sloping sides, approx 8.8m wide. It was 1.8m deep on the W and 0.9m deep on the N. The W section appears to have been deliberately obliterated through the dumping of coal from a local pit (West, 1968) The E part of the moat was destroyed in 1974, when a dual carriageway was constructed over the site. At this time the W part of the site was under plough and the earthworks had been reduced to slight undulations. The W area was destroyed in Jan/Feb 1986 by open cast mining. A watching brief produced no new evidence for the date of the moat, or for internal features. Only a thin strip of the centre of the site now survives. (Moated Sites Research Group, 1986).

Gatehouse Comments

The site was descheduled in 1986 after being serious damaged to the point of total destruction. Although the excavation noted above dated the site to C13 the tenurial history given in Dugdale and VCH would indicate a late C12 origin.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSP357890
Latitude52.4985504150391
Longitude-1.47450995445251
Eastings435770
Northings289090
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Salter, Mike, 1992, Castles and Moated Mansions of Warwickshire (Malvern: Folly Publications)
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 486 (reject)
  • Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1947, VCH Warwickshire Vol. 4 p. 173-178 (tenurial history only) online transcription

Antiquarian

  • Dugdale, Wm., 1656, The Antiquities of Warwickshire (Thomas Warren) p. 771-3 online copy

Journals

  • IRM, JEC, RCH, 1986, Moated Site Research Group Vol. 13 p. 14
  • West, S., 1968, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol. 31 p. 76-101
  • 1967, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 11 p. 299-300 download copy
  • West, S., 1966, West Midlands Archaeological news sheet Vol. 9 p. 11
  • Chatwin, P.B., 1947-8, 'Castles in Warwickshire' Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol. 67