Littledean Camp was a small Norman castle near the village of Littledean in Gloucestershire, England. It was used for only a short period, and was abandoned by the 1140s – only earthworks remain.
History
After the Norman invasion of 1066, the manor of Littledean was part of a larger estate, called Dean, held by a Norman newcomer called William. He appears to have built a castle to control his estates, and to protect Gloucester from incursions from Wales, then the frontier between Norman rule and the indigenous Welsh leaders. The castle would have operated in conjunction with the castles at Glasshouse Woods and Howle Hill Camp, to screen the city from the western approaches.
The castle was positioned on high ground overlooking the Severn valley and the town of Littledean. The castle was circular and relatively small, some 60 ft (18 m) in diameter, with an inner and an outer bailey, the latter protected by a very tall vallum wall. The outer wall has surviving earthworks 12 ft (3.5 m) high; originally it would have been 15 ft (4.5 m) tall, with a motte built into it, probably designed to act as a combination of look-out tower and keep. The entrance to the castle was from the south.
Littledean castle was only briefly occupied, and by the time of the Anarchy in the middle of the 12th century had already been abandoned for several years, being referred to as the “Old Castle of Dean”. For some years, the site was thought to have been of Roman origins, leading it to its name as a “camp”. In the 21st century, the site is protected under UK law as a Scheduled Monument.
Bibliography
- Scott-Garrett, C. (1958) “Littledean Camp,” in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Volume. 77.
Attribution
The text of this page is licensed under under CC BY-NC 2.0. Images on this page include those from the Geograph website, as of 11 August 2023, and are attributed as follows: “Aerial photograph of Littledean“, author Peter Randall-Cook, released under CC BY-SA 2.0.