Remains Of Benington Castle (In Grounds Of The Lordship 15 Metres To South East Of House)

Benington TL 2923 BENINGTON CHURCH GREEN (north side)

11/11 Remains of Benington Castle (in grounds of the 24.11.66 Lordship 15m to SE of house)

GV I

Ruined keep of medieval ringwork castle. 1130's for the de Valognes family, slighted in 1176/7 by Henry II, garrisoned again in 1192/3, destroyed 1212 after Robert Fitz Walter was outlawed. Flint rubble walls 7 - 8 ft thick with some herringbone-coursed flint facing and oolitic limestone quoins and plinth offset of dressed stone with diagonal tooling, exposed on exterior N wall. A small square stone tower about 44 feet x 41 feet with pilaster buttresses at the middle and ends of each face. A small square NE annexe may be original. Demolition involved removal of one side entirely. S wall is reduced to footings and W wall ends at a door jamb. Other walls stand to some 9 foot. A fallen mass of masonry lies on the NE annexe and an imitation Norman doorway was inserted c1842. Of unusual interest. Ancient Monument. (RCHM (1911) 51-2: VCH (1912) 73-4: Pevsner (1977) 94: Renn D Medieval Castles in Hertfordshire Chichester (1971) 7, 14).

Listing NGR: TL2968023633