Summary
The earthwork and buried remains of a Norman ringwork and bailey castle, tentatively identified as Rugemont Castle, a stronghold of the Walhull family and their successors the de Greys, situated on a promontory on the north-east facing scarp of the Bedfordshire Greensand ridge.
Reasons for Designation
The earthwork and buried remains of the ringwork and bailey castle at Brogborough, tentatively identified as Rugemont Castle, a stronghold of the Walhull family and their successors the de Greys, is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Rarity: with perhaps only 200 examples of ringworks identified nationally, of which only 58 are known to have baileys, it is a rare surviving example;
* Period: as one of a limited number and very restricted range of Norman fortifications it is of particular significance to our understanding of the period;
* Survival: although it has been altered by the construction of a mid-C16 house (now demolished) and its mid-C17 cross-wing (which now survives as a ruin known as the Round House), its southern quadrant survives as a substantial earthwork and in the northern quadrant the line of the ramparts can be distinguished as distinct scarps;
* Potential: although altered by later building and quarrying, the ringwork will retain important archaeological remains, with the area of the bailey retaining potential for the recovery of the below-ground building remains, while the surrounding moat provides favourable conditions for the preservation of important environmental and artefactual evidence;
* Amenity value: as the castle lies in a prominent location and close to a public right of way it has high amenity value.
History
Ringworks, which acted as strongholds for military operations and in some cases as defended aristocratic or manorial settlements, are substantial but simple earthwork enclosures measuring about 20m to 50m across and roughly circular in plan. They were the earliest Norman castles in England, being built immediately after the Conquest, and were usually defined by an outer ditch, the soil from which was used to form a large inner bank. As such, many ringworks have more of a prehistoric quality than a medieval one. It is often only the scale and the relative sharpness of the earthworks that distinguishes these castles from their prehistoric predecessors.
Ringworks can be divided into two basic forms: a full ring, broken only by a single entrance; and the ‘partial ringwork’ for which the ditch was cut – and the bank thrown up – across a promontory, as at Brogborough, the angle of a river terrace, or a narrow neck of land, so as to make best use of the natural defences. Ringworks were economical in construction and were often adapted from earlier structures such as Iron Age hillforts, and even from Roman amphitheatres. Their simplicity was a factor that enabled the fashion for castles to spread so quickly across Britain. Excavation has revealed that some of the encircling banks were revetted with timber posts: these were also used along the passage to the gate, or along the rampart so as to construct a fighting platform. Domestic buildings, also of timber, stood within the enclosure. Ringworks are rare nationally with only 200 recorded examples of which less than 60 have baileys, of which Brogborough is one. As such, and as one of a limited number and very restricted range of Norman fortifications, these monuments are of particular significance to our understanding of the period.
Although not much is known about the ringwork and bailey castle at Brogborough, it has been tentatively identified as Rugemont Castle, the stronghold of the Walhulls of Ridgemont (the former parish in which this area of Brogborough Park lay until it became a separate parish in 1990) and their successors the de Greys. In 1276 Walter Beywin is described as holding 7 selions 'above the castle of Rugemont' (Page, 1912). Extents of Brogborough Manor, to which it appears to have been attached, contain no mention of it, though it may have been the 'capital messuage' found in earlier accounts of the manor. In the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547), probably in 1524, Brogborough Park was granted to the Crown by Sir Henry de Grey. During the reign of Charles I (1625-1649) it was granted to John Ashburnham. As there is a 1548 order for oak from the Woburn Estate for ‘making a house, butts and seats at Brogborough Park’, it is possible that Mr Ashburnham, or his immediate, unknown, successor, built a house inside the ringwork in the mid-C16. In 1654 the lease was purchased by Colonel John Okey (1606-1662), a Parliamentary soldier and MP for Bedfordshire in 1658, and one of the regicides of King Charles I. Although largely conjecture, particularly as no contemporary records are known to exist, it has been suggested that Okey was responsible for erecting a cross-wing on the west side of the mid-C16 house. However, as Brogborough Park and its house was leased to John Ashburnham in 1666, after Okey's lands had been sequestered by the Crown after his arrest in 1661 following the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy (Oakey was subsequently executed in 1662), it is possible, based on the building's architectural style, that the work could have been undertaken by Mr Ashburnham or one his C17 successors. By 1723, when the estate was owned by John, 3rd Baron Ashburnham, the house had become a farmhouse, to which barns, stables and a dovecote had been built immediately to the west of the ringwork. During the later C18, the Brogborough Park estate was owned by the Radcliffe family, with Lady 'Farnaby' Radcliffe holding it in 1801. At some time between 1728 and 1820 the mid-C16 house was demolished and the cross-wing, now known as the Round House, subsequently became the principal dwelling on the site. In 1828, the estate was purchased by John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, who developed it as a commercial beef and dairy farm. It was sold by Herbrand Russell, the 11th Duke of Bedford to George and John Duncombe in 1918, at which time it was known as Brogborough Park Farm. In around 1927, the farm was purchased by Hudson's Bay Company Overseas Settlement Ltd, a subsidiary of Canada's Hudson's Bay Company, who established, in conjunction with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, a training farm at the site, where British men, aged 18-35, undertook a practical course of agricultural training. This subsequently made them ‘semi-experienced' in farming and therefore eligible for the 'cheap passage rate' to Canada under the Empire Settlement Act 1922. After the Second World War, the farmhouse was purchased by the Marston Valley Brick Company (MVBC) as a hostel for immigrant workers employed at its neighbouring brick works. A series of concrete hardstandings were subsequently laid out across the interior of the ringwork on which prefabricated accommodation blocks were built. In August 1993, the Round House was severely damaged by fire, which destroyed the roof, the staircase and the majority of the upper floors. At the time of survey (2021) the house had largely collapsed, with just its south wall surviving to eaves height.
Details
PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: the earthwork and buried remains of a Norman ringwork and bailey castle, tentatively identified as Rugemont Castle, a stronghold of the Walhull family and their successors the de Greys, situated on a promontory on the north-east facing scarp of the Bedfordshire Greensand ridge.
DESCRIPTION: the castle is oval in plan, measuring about 130m north to south by 100m east to west, and comprises a central stronghold, the ringwork, with an outer defended court, or bailey, to the north. It is further defended to the south and west by a ditch and outer bank. Although it has been altered by the construction of a now demolished house, probably of mid-C16 date, and its C17 cross wing, which now survives as a ruin known as the Round House, its southern quadrant survives as a substantial earthwork and in the northern quadrant the line of the ramparts can be distinguished as distinct scarps.
The remains of the ringwork are visible to the south-east of the ruinous Round House as a pair of mounds about 5m high and 10m wide, which have been altered by quarrying but were originally linked to form a full circuit with an estimated diameter of about 45m. The bailey is located on a terrace to the east of the Round House and its northern limit is discernible as a steep scarp, about 2.5m high, which curves round the north side of the house. The outer ditch is clearly visible south of the ringwork where it ranges from 8m to 18m in width. Over the years the ditch has become infilled and is now about 1m deep. The bank which lies on the outer edge of the ditch is slightly eroded by ploughing but is still 1m high and up to 10m wide. The ditch and banks are considered to continue round the west side of the Round House, beneath the existing driveway. To the north-west of the house, the line of the outer bank is visible as a steep scarp, the top of which lies some 15m from the building. Along the north and east sides, the steep natural slope provided adequate defence and the outer ramparts are not present. The north slope is slightly altered by an old clay quarry.
EXCLUSIONS: the ruined remains of the Round House with its deep cellars is excluded from the scheduling as are ancillary buildings adjacent to the house along with the metalled surface of the driveway, the garden walls and fences and the concrete hardstandings, although the ground beneath these features is included.
EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: the area of protection, which is shown on the accompanying map, is drawn to include the known extent of the earthwork and buried remains of the medieval ringwork and bailey castle at Brogborough. The boundary of the protected area is drawn by projecting the line of the outer edge of the outer bank, observed in the south-east quadrant, following the contour of the promontory. The boundary extends to the foot of the steep scarp 20m to the north-west of the ruined Round House, which is considered to mark the line of the outer rampart. To the north the boundary ends at the top of a disused quarry
