Zouches Manor
| Zouches Manor | |
|
Cambridgeshire | |
|---|---|
 Moat of Zouches Castle | |
| Type: | Fortified manor house |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TL52815628 |
| Location: | 52°11’1"N, -0°14’2"E |
| Village: | Fulbourn |
| History | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Earthworks remain |
Zouches Manor (also Zouches Castle) was a moated manor of an Anglo-Saxon origin, the remains of which are now found in Fulbourn Fen, close to the village of Fulbourn in south-eastern Cambridgeshire. It is one of the historic Five Manors of Fulbourn and recorded to have existed between 1066 and 1539.
Creation
The manor was built in the 13th century on an earlier site, by Alan la Zouche (1205–1270), a nobleman of a Breton family (the same family that held Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire).[1] The moat ditch and platform are likely to have been constructed in the 12th or 13th century, obscuring who exactly built the structure.
The Zouches and their successors continued to hold Zouches Manor of the Honor of Richmond into the 15th century in socage, rendering two gilt spurs yearly into the 15th century. After 1500 the tenure was reckoned as knight service.[2]
Dunmowes Manor
The estate at some time came into ownership by the Dowcra family when it was known as Dunmowes Manor. There is ambiguity[3] over whether Zouches Manor and Dunmowes Manor are the same or whether the latter was built by the Dockra family in the 16th century on the site of the former.[4] The Dockra (or Dowcra) family has extensive history in the area.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
Dunmowes Manor took its name from the Norman surname 'Dunmowe'. The Domesday Book recorded the family as holders of a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Dunmow.[12] It is unclear if this is Dunmowes Manor in Fulbourn or the Essex villages 30 miles away at Great Dunmow and Little Dunmow.
The site has been extensively archaeologically researched.[13]
Location
The location commands access to the village and the upland areas from the Fens and was probably chosen to defend against attack from the Fens during troubles such as the First Barons' War in the 13th century. Close by are the fortifications of an earlier age: Fleam Ditch, an earthwork of the early Anglo-Saxon period dug to block the gap between the River Cam and the hills and this the ay into East Anglia.
References
- ↑ ""Fulbourn conservation area" - South Cambridgeshire District Council (2007)". https://www.scambs.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Fulbourn_0.pdf.
- ↑ "Fulbourn: Economic history". http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cambs/vol10/pp143-149.
- ↑ "Cantab Ramblers - CANTAB76 March 2014". http://cambridgeramblers.org/tag/fulbourn/.
- ↑ "Fulbourn - Cantab Ramblers". http://cambridgeramblers.org/tag/fulbourn/.
- ↑ "Will of Susan Docwra, Widow of Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire". 1644-12-12. http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D857254.
- ↑ "1644 - Susan DOCWRA of Fulbourn, Cambs.". http://www.docwras.org.uk/articles.php?article_id=81.
- ↑ "1628 - Raffe DOCWRA, of Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire". https://docwras.org.uk/articles.php?article_id=80.
- ↑ Docwra, Thomas. "Fulbourn Village History Society - Newsletter 36, Autumn 2012". http://fulbournhistory.org.uk/nl/NL36.pdf.
- ↑ Docwra (26 September 1996). A Concise History of the University of Cambridge - Captain Docwra of Fulbourn. ISBN 9780521439787. https://books.google.com/books?id=xvScOaG7mHYC&q=Docwra+Fulbourn&pg=PA80.
- ↑ Docwra, James (1635). "Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, with Communications Made to the Society, Volumes 60-63". https://books.google.com/books?id=9ppJAQAAMAAJ&q=Docwra+Fulbourn.
- ↑ Docwra, James (1655). Contrasting Communities: English Villages in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. ISBN 9780521297486. https://books.google.com/books?id=mVCcTZuKI8AC&q=Docwra+Fulbourn&pg=PA229.
- ↑ "Dunmall History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms". https://www.houseofnames.com/dunmall-family-crest.
- ↑ "Fulbourn Village History Society - Newsletter 15, Spring 2004". http://fulbournhistory.org.uk/nl/NL15.pdf.