Chapter 6 - Deddington Castle Grounds

Walter Meagher 

Introduction

Entering the summery path shaded by the embankment wood, the only fragment of mature semi-wild wood open to the public in Deddington parish, there is an enshrouding quiet in the dimmed daylight. On the map prepared by Richard Davis of Lewknor (1797, lodged in the Bodleian Library, Oxford), the inner spaces of the Castle Grounds are shown as a single grassland with trees on all sides (see Chapter 2: Hedges and Hedgerows). Today, the ring of trees, making a nearly continuous canopy on three sides, forms a moist wood favouring the growth of broad-leaved trees and a ground-storey of early spring flowers.

Immediately after the Norman Conquest, Bishop Odo of Bayeux was given Deddington as the headquarters for his extensive new estates in England. He constructed a castle on the site of a pre-existing fortified enclosure, probably of Iron Age date. On a low mound stood a wooden tower (Fig. 6.1); in the middle of the twelfth century a stone tower replaced the wooden one, and a stone gatehouse was built by the de Chesney family. Within the castle bailey a hall and chapel were built, but by the 14th century the castle had fallen into disrepair and in 1377 'the canons of Bicester were buying dressed stonework from the castle walls'.[1] What we see today are an imposing embankment and a deep ditch on three sides, these two enclosing an area (the outer bailey) of some 3.4 ha (8.5 acres), and an inner bailey (.40 ha, about 1 acre) with a remnant motte. As impressive as the ramparts are, what archaeologists find surprising, and possibly unique to this fort site, is the size of the outer bailey.

Fig. 6.1: An artist's reconstruction of a motte-and-bailey castle, built of earth and wood, surrounded by a moat. Such castles were common in late 11th-century England. Bishop Odo's castle in Deddington would have looked similar to this, but, being able to rely on the existing massive enclosures for defence, the mound of the Bishop's castle would not have been as high as those of other castles in the county.

1. Tall Broad-Leaved Trees

In the 19th century, and on into the early decades of the 20th century, the Castle Grounds were host to the Gentlemen's Cricket Club and the village Archery Club. There was a 'remarkable structure called the Pavilion ... so large that it contained a spacious ballroom with musicians' gallery, cloakrooms and a refreshment room ... Dance music was provided by a band from Oxford, invariably including a harp'.[2]

The largest trees (Table 6.1) of the embankment are horse-chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) and sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus), both species introduced to Great Britain and found nowhere else in the parish of such size and number (Table 6.3). Smaller trees and shrubs of the subcanopy when dense in summer foliage - mainly elder (Sambucus nigra), elm (Ulmus procera), and juvenile sycamore - conceal the full form of the great trees from view. But winter disrobes the shrubbery, and reveals that the big trees of the eastern and southern sides of the Castle Grounds grow mainly on the outer slope, and below the summit, of the embankment; and that the great trees of the western side grow mainly on the summit, facing the setting sun (Photo 6.1).

Table 6.1 - Species and the Relative Positions of the Dominant Trees in the Deddington Castle Grounds

Diameter at Breast High (dbh) of the Dominant Trees (1999)

Map No. Species   dbh (cm)   Map No. Species   dbh (cm) 1 Fagus sylvatica 94 16 Acer pseudoplatanus 45 2 Fagus sylvatica 62 17 Acer pseudoplatanus 55 3 Fagus sylvatica 72 18 Acer pseudoplatanus 71 4 Acer pseudoplatanus 81 19 Acer pseudoplatanus 83 5 Acer pseudoplatanus 60 20 Acer pseudoplatanus 42 6 Acer pseudoplatanus 75 21 Acer pseudoplatanus 40 7 Acer pseudoplatanus 75 22 Acer pseudoplatanus 33 8 Acer pseudoplatanus 86 23 Quercus robur 60 9 Aesculus hippocastanum 107 24 Aesculus hippocastanum 96 10 Acer pseudoplatanus 54 25 Acer pseudoplatanus 62 11 Aesculus hippocastanum 105 26 Aesculus hippocastanum 119 12 Acer pseudoplatanus 55 27 Aesculus hippocastanum 133 13 Acer pseudoplatanus 70 28 Acer pseudoplatanus 77 14 Acer pseudoplatanus 90 29 Aesculus hippocastanum 93 15 Acer pseudoplatanus 55

The Castle Grounds, having been a 'pleasure ground' since the 19th century, and now a mini-arboretum, are rich with trees planted by eager arboriculturists: beech, birch, horse-chestnut, oak, osier, pear, pine, poplar, and rowan. Their diversity is a gift of man more than nature, and altogether there are 12 families, 19 genera, and 25 taxa of trees; and 8 families, 11 genera, and 11 taxa of shrubs (Table 6.2).

The diameter at breast high (dbh) was measured of 29 large trees (Table 6.1). Sycamores compose two-thirds (66%) and horse-chestnuts one-fifth (21%) of the sample. The latter are greater in girth. While both trees were introduced to the British Isles, they have long been satisfied with their home here. The largest sycamore has a dbh of 90 cm; all the horse-chestnuts have a dbh greater than the largest sycamore, ranging from 93-133 cm.

There is a wide gap along the embankment between the trees numbered 4 and 29 in the table. The 19 sycamores are growing on the inner slope; more than half are growing from old crowns with multiple trunks. In the wide gap between 4 and 29 are common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) trees, the dbh of their single and multiple trunks ranging from 10-35 cm dbh; most are about 24 cm dbh. The two largest horse-chestnut trees (26 and 27) are perched on a second dyke, lower than the embankment, and face the cultivated fields leading to the River Cherwell. The westernmost has a dbh of 133 cm; the easternmost, which is taller and is shown in Photo 6.2, has a dbh of 119 cm.

Horse-chestnuts attain a great girth much faster than oak (Quercus robur), have a wide full form, and a showy flower (Photo 6.3), making them desirable ornamental trees in public spaces: see horse-chestnut trees in the centre of Deddington village green, on the islet of protected ground between Castle Street and Hopcraft Lane, abundantly along the Chipping Norton Road from Hempton to Deddington, and along the A4260 between Oxford and Banbury. In semi-wild sites they are less common; in patches of woodland, and along parish rivers and streams, they are less common than sycamore. There are horse-chestnut trees along a stream on College Farm land (see Chapter 9: Willows and Alders), and overlooking the River Cherwell on Boulderdyke Farm. In contrast, sycamore grows commonly in overgrown hedges and mesic woodland despite suffering a measure of public disdain (Photo 6.4).

Of the three tall native trees in the Castle Grounds, only ash (Fraxinus excelsior) is self-seeded. Where once armed guards walked a parapet, a great ash tree stands vigil, north of the castle mound; another is on the edge of the western side. Otherwise ash occurs with greater frequency in the hedgerows where solitary trees may attain great height, and in a few woodland sites, especially Ilbury Wood. Once, the land beyond the wire fence, forming an eastern boundary of the Castle Grounds, was part of the medieval castle; so was the shallow land, now the site of the Old Spinney, shown as the wood at the upper edge of the aerial photo of the Castle Grounds (Photo 6.1). Occasionally there is a surplus of ground water in the wide ditch of the eastern boundary, ideal for the osiers (Salix viminalis) that have been planted and are prospering there.

A solitary large oak tree grows among the sycamores on the western side of the outer bailey; there are also three sites of plantings, some now more than juvenile and having it within their destiny to change the look of the Castle Grounds, on the western side. But oaks are not plentiful in the Castle Grounds. Laboratory analysis of sample material from a big stump on the southern side of the outer bailey, has led to the conclusion that the stump is of oak.* According to John Scott, formerly of Deddington, there were once more oak trees. He writes: '... formerly there were many oaks in the Castle Grounds but the war saw the remaining ones felled'.[3] Evidence for his view is provided by a notebook Chris Day, of Deddington, examined in the archive of St George's Chapel, Windsor. Timber growing in the castle-yard is noted in the following manner: 103 oaks, all maidens, some very small, a lot above 10', several 20' and above, tallest 45'.[4] Early 19th century is the likely date of the notebook. From the number of trees (103 oaks!) - and there were as well 231 ash, 156 elms, 66 sycamores, 55 poplars - it seems as if the Castle Grounds were a forestry nursery (Fig. 6.2).

* Samples were taken of the putative oak stump and examined by Dr Jason Kilgore in the wood laboratory of Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA: 'Earlywood vessels are significantly larger than latewood vessels in transverse view; the wood is ring-porous. Transition from earlywood to latewood is abrupt, and latewood vessels are distributed somewhat evenly through the latewood. In addition, the latewood vessels are not distributed in wave-like tangential bands, ruling out Ulmus spp. Tyloses are abundant in the earlywood vessels. No other species but oak exhibits these features.'

Fig. 6.2: The afforestation of the Castle Grounds, redrawn from an undated notebook in the archive of St George's Chapel, Windsor. The number and location of the trees in the figure are an exact copy of the original, as is the typography.

The principal ornamental trees of the Castle Grounds are the three well-grown beech trees. They separate the mown from the unmown grassy sward of the outer bailey, and give to the open space the aura of a manorial parkland. The two outer trees are native beech (Fagus sylvatica), which form 'nearly pure stands in the Chilterns and elsewhere', but seldom occur in wild places in Deddington parish. A copper beech (Fagus sylvatica var. atropunicea) stands between them, and is a variety known since 1680. Two sapling beech have been planted in a line with these older trees in 2000. Recently a new planting of beech was made by Mr Scott in the corner of the junction of the northern and eastern edges of the Grounds. The young trees are shaded by a semi-circle of eight Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) a species which, while long native to the British Isles, disappeared from the south of England 200 years ago. In this same site there are three young alders (Alnus glutinosa), a tree which grows abundantly in the wild in the parish, along South Brook, and only rarely anywhere as an ornamental.

Crab apple (Malus sylvestris) is naturally ornamental, and has been planted to good advantage in several places on the edge of the wood, facing the green sward of the outer bailey. The largest apple tree is on the western side, near the old plank bench. There are 11 young apple trees on the north side. They too are an ornament to the wooded edge, contributing to the bounty of spring their pale pink flowers, and to the understorey the vitality of their weaving limbs. English elms, which seldom are happy anywhere in the parish, are tall and healthy in several places in the Grounds. Referring to Table 6.1, there are three English elms between the sycamores numbered 7 and 8 which have nearly reached the limit of their growth potential, to about 30 m. In the northeast corner of the inner side of the outer bailey there are young trees, dead and dying. Even so, English elm, with persistent optimism, has in many places - both in the understorey and on the edges of the wood - regenerated from suckers of old elms attacked by Dutch elm disease (the fungus Ceratocystis ulmi). English elm and sycamore together are the principal woody plants of the hedgerow, forming the outer western boundary of the Castle Grounds.

Wych elm (Ulmus glabra) is, like the good prince, tall and handsome; although it is naturally less common than English elm, Wych elm seems immune to Ceratocystis ulmi. The two tallest Wych elms are on the western side. In Table 6.1, these trees are between 7 and 6 and between 6 and 5. In addition, there is an Ulmus glabra on the north side.

Non-native trees - horse-chestnut, Norway maple (Acer platanoides), and sycamore - comprise 36% of the sample (Table 6.3). Norway maple is more common in the Castle Grounds than in any other place in the parish, occurring on both sides of the outer bailey. Although not tall, rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) - four trees in the northwest corner - is mentioned here because it is abundant in this part of the Castle Grounds.

2. Shrubs and Small Trees

The understorey of the ramparts is dominated by hawthorn, densest on the outermost bank of the south-facing side of the outer bailey, and crowded among sycamore saplings. Conspicuously under-represented is blackthorn (Prunus spinosa). Elder is plentiful in the understorey of the western side. Rarities (plants of which there is only one specimen in the Castle Grounds) include buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) and two taxa found only in the Grounds: butcher's broom (Ruscus aculeatus), and a horticultural variety of cotoneaster (Cotoneaster sp.). Holly (Ilex aquifolium) occurs occasionally throughout the understorey, rarely as a well-grown tree, except by the entrance to the circumferential pathway on the north side. Crab apple, of all the trees in Table 6.4, has the greatest growth potential, but in the Castle Grounds these crab apple trees are rightly listed with small trees.

3. Herbaceous Flora

The first flowers of spring are the woodland flowers, especially abundant under the tall trees of the high ramparts (Table 6.5). Early March brings into bloom small stands of sweet violet (Viola odorata) in its several colour forms - light and dark violet, and white; in the same season, lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) grows abundantly on the lower slope of the southern embankment. Queen of the spring ephemerals is cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), crowding both sides of the circumferential pathway. Soon it displays its tiara of white umbels borne lightly on tall (to 1.5 m high) slim stalks. This vigorous plant, which is even more abundant outside the wood on roadside verges, sets the pattern of the ground-storey flora in the Castle Grounds: a few species in great numbers.

Because the Castle Grounds were a site of use to men as early as the Iron Age, one might hope herbaceous species associated with ancient woodland persist in the shade of the horse-chestnut trees. Dog's mercury (Mercurialis perennis) is one such species, a recognized indicator of ancient woodland. It occurs, but is not common, in the Castle Grounds. Nor is there evidence of ancient woodland; the Castle Grounds were cleared long ago to build army barracks. On the majority of slopes of the embankment the most successful plant by far is ivy (Hedera helix), the many-faceted woody climber. Lords-and-ladies (Arum maculatum), which are common, even abundant, in some hedgerows, and bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), which are present in only one other woodland, are much less common than one would expect or wish.

The dark wood contrasts vividly with the openness, space, and sunlight of the grassy swards. Of the two baileys, the outer is larger, and the grass is cut like a lawn. The uneven inner bailey is formed of small knolls and tiny vales; tall grasses and hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) are dominant. The management of the inner bailey is an experiment in allowing grassland to develop on its own terms, without inputs of nitrogen, potassium, or phosphorus. In the outer bailey, where the grass is regularly cut, daisy and dandelion flower again and again, undaunted by the mower; the grasses and herbs of the inner bailey are left to complete their life cycles. A special effort is being made by Betty Hill, of Deddington, to protect the common toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) growing in the depression in the middle of the inner bailey. Species composing the meadow of the inner bailey are, as shown in our ratings of abundance in Table 6.6 below, mainly waste ground hardies; the inner bailey is a grassland site, not unlike a wide grassy verge, a habitat dense and crowded. In May and August 1992, Anita Jo Dunn, of Charlbury, surveyed the herbaceous flora of the inner bailey of the Castle Grounds for English Heritage. The following list (Table 6.6) combines the two surveys, adding 24 species to the consolidated list of herbaceous flora in the Deddington Castle Grounds. Two families have the greatest representation of species: Aster Family (Asteraceae) with 15 species, and the Grass Family (Poaceae) with 13. All told, there are 14 families, 40 genera, and 56 species comprising the herbaceous flora of the grassy places in the Castle Grounds.

4. Ferns

When lands were low and covered by swamps and shallow seas, in what are now the temperate but once tropical and semi-tropical lands of Europe and North America, ferns were prominent among the plants dominating the landscapes. The ferns of Deddington (Table 6.7) remind us of that age, 360 to 286 million years ago. Male-fern (Dryopteris filix-mas) is present in seven stands located on the outer bank of the embankment and in the defile north of the large ash tree. Consistently associated with broad-leaved woodland, male-fern occurs at nine woodland, and three other, sites in the parish. Soft-shield fern (Polystichum setiferum), growing on the one side of the rampart, is scarce in the county, and has never before been recorded from Deddington parish. We know from Lellinger that, 'In Victorian times, fancy sports of the European Polystichum setiferum ... were much in demand by gardeners'.[6] This solitary soft-shield fern may be a descendant of a plant exhibited in the pavilion (no longer standing) of the outer bailey where in Victorian times balls of no inconsiderable pomp and circumstance were regularly held.

Ferns are scarce in the parishes of Deddington, Adderbury, and Bloxham, and they luxuriate in Great Britain where there are high dry walls and plenty of moisture - Devon on the eastern slopes of Dartmoor, for example. There is a high wall on the western boundary of the churchyard of St Peter and St Paul, and a low wall on the northern side of the Deddington Castle Grounds, on which ivy is dominant and a single stand of rustyback fern (Ceterach officinarum) is growing in close association with greater chickweed (Stellaria neglecta) and ivy-leaved toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis) (Table 6.8). The only other site of rustyback fern in the parish is on an external garden wall in Castle Street, Deddington, where it becomes fleshy in the early spring rains and shrivels in the summer drought. There is one stand of Hart's-tongue fern (Phyllitis scolopendrium); the only other site is on an external garden wall in a lane called The Tchure, again in Deddington.

References

[1] Crossley, Alan (ed.) (1983). A History of the County of Oxford, Vol. XI: Wootton Hundred (Northern Part), p. 90. The Victoria History of the Counties of England, Elrington, C.R. (ed.). The University of London Institute of Historical Research, Oxford University Press.

[2] Turner, Mary Vane (1933). The Story of Deddington. J. Smart & Co., Brackley, Northants., p. 73.

[3] Scott, John. Letter to the author dated October 1999.

[4] Windsor Muniments, VI, 3.5.

[5] Stace, Clive (1997). New Flora of the British Isles, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press.

[6] Lellinger, David B. (1985). A Field Manual of the Ferns & Fern-Allies of the United States & Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., p. 273.

Acknowledgements

Tom Curtis and Justin Mathews measured and mapped the tall trees in the Castle Grounds; Jason Kilgore analysed the oak wood sample; Chris Day and Trevor Rowley guided the hand of the artist, Edith Gollnast, in the construction of Fig. 6.1; Edith Gollnast drew Fig. 6.2; the Deddington Map Group gave permission to use Photo 6.1. Drafts of the chapter were read, and corrections made by, Anita Jo Dunn, John Scott, Kristin Thompson, and Joan Todd. Edited and designed by Wendy Meagher.

© Walter L. Meagher

These chapters are extracts from Hedges and Landscapes of Deddington Parish by Walter L. Meagher, to be published in 2008.

This material is reproduced by kind permission of Walter L. Meagher. The material has been reformatted for the web by Martin Reed, but is otherwise unabridged.