Huntingdon

Castle Camps

The site is a good example of a Norman motte and bailey castle which was enlarged in later years. The castle, which is the largest in Cambridgeshire, was built by Aubrey de Vere, and became the administrative centre of his vast estate in south-east Cambridgeshire and north-west Essex.

The motte (castle mound) is large, and was the site of a tower until the 18th century. The small horseshoe shaped bailey on the north-west side of the castle was enlarged during the 13th or 14th centuries to include All Saints Church within its confines. The bank and moat surrounding the enlarged bailey are clearly preserved at all points. The earthworks to the north-east of the Castle are the remains of a Deserted Medieval Village, which was abandoned when the settlement shifted to Camps Green during the later Middle Ages.

The Group visited the site in August 2013.