Brimpsfield Castle

Brimpsfield Castle
Gloucestershire
Earthworks of Brimpsfield Castle
Location
Grid reference:	SO941128
Location:	51°48’50"N, 2°5’10"W
Village:	Brimpsfield
History
Information
Condition:	Earthworks remain

Brimpsfield Castle was a castle in Brimpsfield, a village in Gloucestershire, between Gloucester and Cirencester.

It is likely that the first castle here was built after the Norman conquest. In the 12th or 13th century, a new castle was built, in stone.

In 1321, a civil war, known as the Despenser War broke out against King Edward II and his favourites, and John Giffard, 2nd Lord of Brimpsfield, then owner of Brimfield Castle, joined the rebels. The rebellion was defeated within months and he was executed in 1322. The castle was then destroyed. It was never rebuilt.

Today the remains consist of a mound with an outer bank and ditch and the foundations of a gatehouse.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Brimpsfield Castle)

References

• Fry, Plantagenet Somerset: 'The David & Charles Book of Castles' (David & Charles, 1980) ISBN 0-7153-7976-3
• Dodd, Arthur; Moss, Philip (1991), "Brimpsfield Castle and the Giffards" (PDF), Glevensis: The Gloucester and District Archaeological Research Group Annual Review 25: 34–37, http://www.glosarch.org.uk/jnl25.pdf