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Thornbury Castle is a magnificent early Tudor fortress built by Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, commencing in 1511 on a site previously occupied by a Norman motte-and-bailey castle. The castle comprises a substantial polygonal curtain wall with projecting towers and substantial residential ranges, representing one of the finest examples of early sixteenth-century military and domestic architecture in England. The buried remains of the earlier medieval fortified house have been identified archaeologically beneath the Tudor structures, providing evidence of occupation and fortification at the site prior to Stafford's ambitious reconstruction. The well-preserved sixteenth-century privy garden, with its associated terraces and planting beds, survives as an exceptional example of early Tudor garden design and demonstrates the estate's significance as both a fortified residence and a seat of aristocratic leisure and display.
The buried remains of the medieval fortified house and the C16 privy garden at Thornbury Castle is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1410041. View the official record →
Thornbury Castle is a magnificent early Tudor fortress built by Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, commencing in 1511 on a site previously occupied by a Norman motte-and-bailey castle. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1410041.
The buried remains of the medieval fortified house and the C16 privy garden at Thornbury Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1410041.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Medieval fishponds 125m south of Park Farm, Thornbury (0.7 km), Bowl barrow re-used as a moot 205m SSE of Chelwood (2.5 km), Hillfort and associated Romano-British occupation at Little Abbey, Alveston (2.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of The buried remains of the medieval fortified house and the C16 privy garden at Thornbury Castle's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
The buried remains of the medieval fortified house and the C16 privy garden at Thornbury Castle stands on Triassic Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Triassic. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.