Monument record 1679/5/17 - Higham Ferrers Castle: Outer Bailey

{1} The castle may prove originally to have been of motte and bailey type but it is perhaps more likely that it was simply of two unequally sized baileys, the smaller towards the churchyard and the larger to the north. The possibility that the warren on the north side originated as an outer bailey in the early medieval period, as suggested for example at Rockingham, though unlikely should still be considered. The 1789 map shows very faintly three earthworks: the irregular mound in the warren which survives today, a bank which may be the outer bailey bank on the north side of the Castle Yard and a mound and curving ditch close to the church. The outer, northern bank as depicted in 1789 was still visible in 1979 as a distinct scarp dropping north in part into the fishpond. There was also a slight indication of it possibly turning southward within the rear gardens of properties fronting onto the main street. Here in 1737 the tenements were half their present length and a long narrow plot ran north south, almost certainly representing the location of the moat of the bailey.

<1> Foard G.; Ballinger J., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Higham Ferrers (Medieval - Industrial), (unchecked) (Digital archive). SNN100543.

<2> Bainbridge T., 1789, Higham Ferrers, 1789 (NRO Map 1000), (unchecked) (Map). SNN100544.

Record last edited

Nov 14 2008 1:07PM