South Cerney Castle
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South Cerney Castle was an adulterine castle of Motte and bailey construction built in South Cerney, Gloucestershire in the mid-12th century.{{harvnb|English Heritage staff|2001|loc=Monument No. 216679}} cites {{harvnb|King|1983|p=181}} Today only slight earthwork remains and they are a scheduled monument.{{sfn|English Heritage staff|2012|loc=LeN: 1003422}}
Description
Only slight earthwork remains exist today, although excavations in the middle 1930s revealed a square well and some datable material from the 16th and 17th centuries including farthings from the reign of Charles I. Later, twelfth-century pottery was found on the site.{{sfn|English Heritage staff|2001|loc=Monument No. 216679}}
History
The small Norman castle, built to protect the strategically useful village of South Cerney along the river Churn, was identified by Bazeley and Kennen, and accepted by other historians as the one built by Miles of Gloucester during the Anarchy and captured by King Stephen's forces in 1139,{{harvnb|English Heritage staff|2001|loc=Monument No. 216679}} cites
{{harvnb|Bazeley|1878|p=381}}; and {{harvnb|Kennen|1931|p=55}} {{sfn|Rushford|Knowles|1931|p=55}}{{sfn|Walker|1991|p=15}} but the record of this is uncertain and Renn suggested that Ashton Keynes Castle was the more likely site for these events,{{harvnb|English Heritage staff|2001|loc=Monument No. 216679}} cites {{harvnb|Renn|1968|p=314}} and King mentions that this castle is frequently confused with a castle in Cerne Abbas, Dorset and a lost castle in Calne, Wiltshire.{{harvnb|Davis|2012|loc="South Cerney Castle}} cites {{harvnb|King|1983|p=181}}
The subsequent fate of the castle is unknown.{{sfn|English Heritage staff|2001|loc=Monument No. 216679}}
Notes
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References
- {{Citation |author=English Heritage staff|date=2001 |title=MONUMENT NO. 216679 |publisher=PastScape operated by English Heritage|url=http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=216679}}
- {{Citation|author=English Heritage staff|date=24 November 2012|title=South Cerney castle (LeN: 1003422) |url=http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1003422}}
- {{Citation |last=Bazeley |first=W |title=Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society |volume=3 |date=September 1878|page=381}}
- {{Citation |last=King |first=David J Cathcart |year=1983 |title=Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands. Volume I : Anglesey - Montgomery|volume=1|page=181}}
- {{Citation |last=Kennen |first=F |title=Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society |volume=53 |year=1931 |page=55}}
- {{Citation |last=Renn |first=D F |year=1968 |title=Norman Castles in Britain}}
- {{Citation |last=Davis |first=Philip |date=26 September 2012 |title=South Cerney Castle|url=http://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/1233.html |publisher=Gatehouse-Gazettee}}
- {{Citation|last1=Rushford |last2=Knowles |year=1931 |title=Proceedings at the Annual Meeting held at Cirencester |journal= Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society |volume=52 |url=http://www2.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v053/bg053013.pdf}}
- {{Citation|last=Walker |first=David |year=1991 |title=Gloucestershire Castles |journal=Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society |volume=109 |url=http://www2.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v109/bg109005.pdf}}
Further reading
- {{Citation |last=Sewell |first=Richard Clarke |year=1846 |title=Gesta Stephani, regis Anglorum et ducis Normannorum, incerto auctore sed contemporaneo, olim ex vetere codice m.s. episcopatûs Laudunensis ab Andrea Duchesne edita |publisher=Londini, Sumptibus societatis |pages=[https://archive.org/stream/gestastephanireg00sewe#page/58/mode/1up 58]-61|ref=none}} primary Latin historical source for the mention of this castle in the Anarchy (see page 59).
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