Monument record 0202100000 - CAMP HOUSE, STEEPLE CLAYDON

Plan Form - L SHAPED
REFS TO HILLESDEN HOUSE SIEGE (CASS 00176), 3 MARCH 1644, SHOW CROMWELL'S ARMY CAMPED HERE THE NIGHT BEFORE (INSCRIPTION ON 'CAMP BARN')(B1).
ENTRENCHMENTS, PERHAPS THROWN UP IN CIVIL WAR. 2 LINES AT RIGHT ANGLES (B2-3).
EARTHWORKS PARTLY PLOUGHED OUT. PLAQUE ON CAMP BARN SURVIVES. 1:2500 SURVEY (B4-5).

A subrectangular area of terraced ground of uncertain date and function is visible on historic aerial photographs as earthworks and was mapped as part of the North Buckinghamshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18304). Located within a field called Camp Close and immediately adjacent Camp House in Steeple Claydon village and centred at SP 70357 26721, an L-shaped scarp slope defines two sides of a subrectangular area of terraced ground about 80 metres WNW-ESE and 38 metres SSW-NNE. On aerial photographs taken in 2019 and recent remote sensing data, these earthworks are not visible, seemingly having been plough-levelled by post-war agriculture. The 1880 dated 1st edition OS map records the earthworks as ‘Entrenchments’ and show the W facing scarp slope to be more extended than visible on the aerial photographs taken in 1946. Although these features have been associated with the English Civil War period, there is nothing from the historic aerial photographs or remote sensing data to substantiate or corroborate this (8-11).



(SP 703267) Earthworks (NR) (B12).
Two lines of entrenchment at right angles to each other, the ground falling sharply away to the S., in the grounds of Camp House. They were possibly constructed during the Civil War and are much worn (B2).
The earthworks are undoubtedly the remains of the Royalist defences around Hillesden House. In the wall of a barn on the ridge of a hill at Claydon is a brass plate commemorating Cromwell's troops resting here prior to the seige of Hillesden House on the 3rd of March 1644 (B13).
Camp Barn (Name SP 704268). Panel on N gable states that Cromwell's army camped around the barn in March 1644 (B14).
Ploughing has destroyed the earthwork save for the N angle, surviving as an outward-facing scarp 1.5m high. The site is in a commanding position, towards the SW end of a ridge, overlooking the S and W. Camp Barn (name verified) at SP 7035 2684 and the plaque in the N gable survive. See ground photograph. (The plaque was in existence in 1830 (b13)).
There is insufficient evidence on the ground to allow classification as a Civil War earthwork, but historical and place name evidence (Camp House, Camp Close), as well as the prominent position, leave little doubt. No finds and no further documentary evidence.
Published survey (25") revised (B15).
NRHE insert 2004 (B16)

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