Odiham Castle

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Odiham Castle. Built as a hunting lodge by King John and used by him as a stopping place on the way from Windsor to Winchester. From here he set out for Runnymede to pledge himself to the Barons' Magna Carta. The Castle withstood siege in the C13 when the Dauphin of France invaded England. King David of Scotland was a prisoner here in the C14. Remains of a keep, and traces of an extramural settlement, situated on the site of an earlier castle. Used as a hunting lodge by C15. Flint walls with stone dressings. Excavations during 1981-85 located an inner moat, and uncovered remains of buildings beneath the castle keep. The earliest buildings were dated to 1207-14. The keep was assigned to early C13.

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Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.

 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.

 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.


 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.

 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.

 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.


 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.

 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.

 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.


 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.

 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.

 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.


 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.

 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.

 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.


 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.

 

Odiham Castle

Copyright David Quick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.


Name Odiham Castle 
Alternative Names King Johns Castle 
Historic County Hampshire 
Civil Parish Odiham 
Type Masonry Castle Palace 
Confidence Certain 
Remains Masonry ruins/remnants 
Listed Grade 1
Scheduled Ancient Monument Yes
Ordnance Survey Reference SU725518
Eastings 472550
Northing 151870
Images of England Reference136964
PastScape Reference244270
Historic Environment Record 4255

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StreetMaps

Books

  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern) p43
  • Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p86
  • James, T.B., 1990, The Palaces of Medieval England (London; Seaby) p38
  • Barton, K.J. and Allen, D., 1986, 'Odiham Castle' in Hughes, M. (ed), Archaeology in Historic Buildings in Hampshire Annual Report for 1984/85
  • Barron, W.G., 1985, The Castles of Hampshire and Isle of Wight (Paul Cave) p33-5
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p191
  • MacGregor, P. (edited with additional material by Stapleton, B.), 1983, Odiham Castle 1200–1500: castle and community. (Gloucester: Alan Sutton)
  • Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p270
  • Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
  • Pevsner, N. and Lloyd, D., 1967, The Buildings of England: Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (Harmondsworth) p.360
  • Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p766-8
  • Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p103-4
  • Williams-Freeman, J.P.,1915, An Introduction to Field Archaeology as Illustrated by Hampshire (London) p67-9, 388-9
  • Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
  • Page, Wm (ed), 1911, VCH Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Vol4 p88-90
  • Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p206-9
  • Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol2 p336-346
  • Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol1 (London) p400-3
  • Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol2 p214-5

Journals

  • Roberts, E., 1995, 'Edward III's lodge at Odiham, Hampshire' Medieval Archaeology Vol39 p91-106 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
  • Hughes, Michael, 1989, 'Hampshire Castles and the Landscape 1066-1216' Landscape History Vol2 p27-60
  • Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
  • Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
  • 1891, Hampshire Antiquary and Naturalist Vol1 p7, 9 [notes of no great importance]
  • Clark, G.T., 1872, 'Odiham Castle, Hants' Archaeological Journal Vol29 p331-41 [reprinted in MMA]
  • Home, 1842, Archaeologia Vol29 p390

Primary Sources

  • Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p229-31

Unpublished

  • Odiham Castle, Hampshire (Archaeological Investigation Report Series AI/17/2004) {available from National Monument Record Centre]

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commerical purposes. I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself. The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others. This site is based upon the databases collated and maintained by Philip Davis who kindly gave permission for its use.