Gannock Castle
| Gannocks Castle | |
|---|---|
| Tempsford, Bedfordshire, England | |
 Gannocks Castle
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| Coordinates | 52°09′45″N 0°18′18″W / 52.16250°N 0.30488°WCoordinates: 52°09′45″N 0°18′18″W / 52.16250°N 0.30488°W |
| Type | Castle |
| Site information | |
| Condition | Moat and earthworks |
Gannocks Castle is located in the village of Tempsford, in the county of Bedfordshire, England. It is located 6 miles east of Great Barford Castle and 9 miles east of Bedford Castle.
Though called a castle, it was in truth a motte and bailey fortified manor house with a manorial complex, built by the Normans in the late 12th, or early 13th, century. It was built as a rectangular ward, enclosed by a moat, with a rampart. The small motte, located in the north-east section of the ward, is believed to have been the site of a beacon or timber tower.
There is belief that the castle was built on the site of a 10th-century Danish Viking fort. This belief is because the Danish Vikings, who had landed in East Anglia in 865, participated in a battle at Tempsford in 921, on the possible location upon which Gannocks castle was later built, although this is conjectural.
There is still some evidence of the castle, in the form of earthworks, and the moat still remains. Currently, the site is owned by Central Bedfordshire Council. The site is a Scheduled Monument, protected by law.
A geophysical survey of the castle site and adjoining playing field was organised by the Friends of Gannock Castle and carried out on 29 June 2004, by geophysical engineers, in the form of a Resistivity and Magnetometer survey.
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Wikipedia