Wiltshire Archaeological & Natural History Magazine, vol. 95 (2002), pp. 292-99 



Reviews 



Ludgershall Castle: Excavations by Peter 

 Addyman 1964-1972. Compiled and edited by 

 Peter Ellis. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural 

 History Society Monograph Series 2. ix + 268 

 pages, 235 figures and maps 7 microfiches, 19 

 tables. ISBN 947723 07 2. Price: £20.00. 



This monograph presents the results of excavations 

 carried out on the site of the royal castle and hunting 

 lodge of Ludgershall between 1964 and 1972, 

 alongside a new survey of the site and its environs 

 conducted by the Royal Commission on the 

 Historical Monuments of England in 1998. 

 Bringing together these two quite different data sets 

 clearly presented a major challenge of synthesis. But 

 despite the somewhat long and tortuous process of 

 the report's completion, including particularly 

 severe delays in the post-excavation programme, it 

 is to the immense credit of the editor that the final 

 monograph is, on the whole, comprehensive, highly 

 readable and attractively presented. Furthermore, 

 it is refreshing to see that uncertainties about the 

 evidence and unresolved aspects of the site's 

 chronology (the twelfth-century phases are 

 particularly problematic) are acknowledged freely 

 and discussed honestly, in particular within the 

 conclusion. Overall, the combination of large-scale 

 open area excavation within the defensive perimeter 

 of the site and detailed topographical survey of the 

 zone beyond makes for fascinating reading and 

 highlights some interesting new ways of 

 understanding the place of castles within their 

 landscape settings. 



Following an introduction, Chapter 2 contains 

 a useful summary of key documentary sources, 

 including a discussion of the building accounts of 

 1341-3 that are translated in full on microfiche. The 

 core of the excavation report is presented in Chapter 

 3. The emphasis of the excavation strategy was on 

 the sampling of the interior of the site's northern 

 and southern enclosures rather than its formidable 

 earthworks, and the thrust of this part of the report 



is on the castle's domestic arrangements rather than 

 its fortifications. A centrally placed great hall, 

 flanked to the north by a progressively enlarged suite 

 of domestic structures and the great tower, 

 dominated the layout of the northern enclosure 

 from the twelfth to the fourteenth century. 

 Occupation within the southern enclosure was of 

 an entirely different character, with evidence from 

 various phases of a substantial limekiln, a lime 

 slaking pit and a building containing a large oven, 

 although the space appears to have been cleared 

 and redesigned as a small ornamental garden in 

 the site's later phases. Chapter 4 by David Stocker 

 combines skilful analysis of above-ground evidence 

 and excavated remains in a study of Henry Ill's 

 Great Hall and the ruined great tower. Chapter 5, 

 by Paul Everson, Graham Brown and David 

 Stocker, describes the results of the detailed 

 topographical survey of the castle earthworks and 

 provides a fascinating and innovative account of the 

 castle's setting and its inter-relationship with the 

 medieval and later townscape. A detailed and well 

 presented finds report comprises Chapter 6 and a 

 final discussion and handy summary of the site's 

 development Chapter 7. 



A word must also be given to the superb colour 

 illustration by Peter Dunn that enlivens the report's 

 front cover. A bird's eye view that looks beyond 

 the castle's defences to emphasise the site's place 

 within its contemporary landscape, this illustration 

 encapsulates nicely some of the report's main 

 strengths. This is far more than a report of a 'castle 

 excavation', but a study that also has an important 

 contribution to make to landscape studies. Of 

 particular significance is the fact that Ludgershall 

 Castle can now be added to the growing list of 

 castles and other elite medieval residences known 

 to have been accompanied by ornamental 

 landscapes purposefully designed for aesthetic 

 effect, such as Bodiam (Sussex). A crucial 

 difference is that the designed landscape created 

 around Ludgershall Castle by the end of the twelfth 



