Monument record 0030600000 - BOLEBEC CASTLE

Dimensions - Length 200m, Width 100m.
May have been thrown up by Hugh de Bolebec during Anarchy 1147. Little known of buildings but apparently had a masonry keep (B7).
Natural eminence artificially scarped to form defences of motte, with triangular shaped bailey to N now separated from motte by road. Traces of foundations on summit (B6).
Watching brief carried out by Andrew Pike during trenching for a ?water or ?sewer pipe in September 1979. The trench which was about 0.75m deep and 17.5cm wide was entirely located within the silts of the castle ditch and the sides and base of the ditch were not identified. The trench cut into the make-up of the bailey bank only in the NE corner of the site where the bank comprised compacted chalk and flint (B13).

A medieval motte and bailey are visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as earthworks and were mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located on the edge of Whitchurch village and centred at SP 79965 20811, the motte and bailey earthworks form an oval shape and extend over an area about 211 metres N-S and 120 metres W-E, and are bisected NSW-NE by Castle Lane, with the castle to the S of the lane and the bailey to its N. The motte comprises a subrectangular scarp bound around its northern arc by a wide internal bank up to 32 metres wide that encloses an internal area about 52 metres WSW-ENE and 53 metres SSE-NNW at its widest points. Presumably this relatively flat area would be the most likely site for the castle’s main buildings. There are two entrances in the scarp to the interior platform, in the west and north-east. Surrounding the motte is a ditch up to 8 metres wide. The bailey lies to the north of the castle motte mound, separated by Castle Lane. It comprises a substantial curving earthen bank on its W facing side up to 30 metres wide, with a scarp on the other two sides, forming a roughly triangular area of level ground some 50 metres N-S and 44 metres W-E (14-18).





(SP 79972082) Bolebec Castle (NR) (B19).
Bolebec Castle, a motte and bailey with a tradition of a masonry keep, is listed as a ringwork by Chateau Gaillard. An artificially scarped natural mound forms the motte with traces of building foundations on the summit. The bailey to the north on higher ground is triangular shaped; consists of a ditch and 15 ft high rampart both now partly destroyed. (See plan). Built probably by Hugh de Bolebec during the reign of Stephen (1135-54). The ruins were demolished at the end of the Civil War. (B6, B7, B20 and B21).
A castle mound with bailey, situated in a commanding position at the end of a spur, bounded on the south east and west sides by natural slopes. The name Bolebec Castle (verified) is applied locally to the stone-built castle which formerly occupied the earthwork, and not the earthwork itself. Presumably the castle comprised a curtain wall around the summit with interior dwellings and outbuilldings, but nothing remains of this and the only stonework observed is an interrupted line of footings, 24.0m long, which just protrudes through the turf towards the south side. The south east part of the interior is flat, and is the only logical position for the main castle building. The castle mound, preserved under permanent pasture, is scarped out of the natural slope of the spur to enclose a sub-oval area about 80.0m north-south by about 60.0m east west. Only in the north arc is an inner counter-scarp bank 0.8m maximum height.At about 5.0m below the level of the enclosed area is a moat, now dry except for a marshy area around a spring in the south east arc. This spring was undoubtedly the water source for the moat. The north part of the moat is now occupied by Castle Lane, and the west arc is mutilated by later ground disturbance. There is no obvious entrance; the two ways up to the summit from the west and north east appear to be modern. The bailey lies to the north of the castle in the garden of Bolebec Place, and has been severely muilated by landscaping. On the east side the rampart is reduced to an outward-facing scarp, and in the west, the massiveness of the bank suggests it has been enlarged and altered in recent years. (Compare the 1973 survey with Allcroft's plan of 1908.) No finds have been made. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 (B22).
No change since report of 24.7.73. AM Survey correct (B23).
A rapid examination of air photography (b26) shows the earthworks of Bolbec Castle (B24).
Listed by Cathcart King (B25).
NRHE insert 2001, Updates 2003, 2004, 2011 (B27).

This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 June 2025 licensed under the Open Government Licence.