EATON-SOCON CASTLE, BEDFORDSHIRE.
THE Ouse, rising in the shires of Northampton and Bucks, and finally falling at King’s Lynn into the head of the Wash, flows deep and sluggish past Bedford, St. Neots, and Huntingdon, intersecting broad tracts of low and level land, now fertile meadow, but formerly almost impassable swamp, opposing great difficulties to the march of an invading force, especially if advancing from the eastern coast. At Eaton-Socon, between Bedford and Huntingdon, and a little above the town of St. Neots, the Ouse impinges upon the rising ground to the west, upon which stand Eaton Church and Village, and which afforded facilities for the construction of a large and lofty earthwork.
This earthwork, known as the Castle Hill, is placed upon the west or left bank of the river, about 30 yards from its present brink, and a furlong or so from the fine parish church. It is possible that when the earthwork was first formed, the course of the stream lay at the foot of the banks. At present there is a large mill upon the river, a few yards above the castle, the leat of which is reunited to its parent stream opposite to the south-eastern edge of the fortress.
The appended sketch shows the general plan of the place. It is, roughly speaking, a triangle, the east side, of 160 yards, resting upon the river, and the north side, of 140 yards, projecting from it at a right angle. The third side, or hypothenuse, is convex and irregular; measured upon the curve, it is in length about 220 yards. The area, complete, is about 3½ acres.
The work is composed of three parts—an Inner, Northern, and Outer ward. The inner and north wards lie side by side upon the river, separated by a cross ditch. The two are contained within another ditch, which communicated at each end with the river. Beyond this, covering the south-western front, is the outer ward, and beyond this again the outer ditch, which commences at the south-east corner in the mill leat, covers the south-western front, and at the north-western angle sweeps round to join the ditch already mentioned, and thus, through it, to communicate with the river at the north-east corner of the work.
The Inner Ward is about 45 yards north and south, or along the river front, by 54 yards east and west. Its figure is a rectangle, with the angles so rounded off that its aspect is almost as much that of a circle as of a square. Towards the river is a steep slope of about 20 feet. On the other sides a similar slope falls towards the ditch. On the crest of the slope on these three inland sides is a bank of earth about 8 feet to 12 feet high, especially strong at the north-west corner. The entrance was at the south-east corner. The inner area or platform of the ward is about 15 feet above the level of the exterior soil. On this platform, about 8 yards from the north-east corner, is a low circular mound about 5 feet high and 40 feet diameter upon its table-top. It may have been somewhat higher. It has no ditch of its own. The ditch of this ward is from 40 feet to 50 feet broad, and still contains water.
EATON SOCON, BEDS.
North of this is the North Ward, above 35 yards north and south, by 80 yards east and west. This also has a ditch about 40 feet broad, on the west and north fronts. From the inner ward it is separated by the cross ditch common to the two, and towards the river is a steep slope about 20 feet high. Besides these defences, the slope on the west and north is crested by a steep bank of earth, and towards the south, or inner ward, is one somewhat slighter.
The Outer Ward is in figure long and curved. Its breadth ranges from 29 yards at the north end down to 22 yards near the south-east end, beyond which it terminates upon the mill leat in a point. This ward is separated from the other two by a common ditch, which communicates with the cross ditch, and thus at three points, directly or indirectly, with the river. The south-eastern end opens at the junction of the leat with the river. The leat covers this end of the ward, and from the leat springs the outer ditch, from 40 feet to 50 feet broad, which covers the outer front of the ward, and at its northern end, sweeping round by a sharp angle, is continued till it joins the north ditch, of which it thus forms a part. The entrance was at the south-east corner, where a modern causeway crosses this outer ditch. The road thence skirts the edge of the outer ward, along the margin of the leat, and thence, by a second causeway, crosses the inner ditch, and, ascending the slope, gains the inner ward. No doubt these causeways represent drawbridges. It does not appear how the inner and north wards communicated. The bridge between the latter and the outer ward was probably at the south-west corner of the northern. The ditches are in parts reduced in depth, and evidently were originally fed from the river. There is not a trace of masonry, but depressions in the bank of the north ward seem to indicate towers at its north-east and north-west angles. It is convenient to use the term angle, but the lines are more or less curved and irregular, and are largely rounded where they meet. The plan has, in fact, nothing of the squareness of a Roman work, and the rounding of the angles is quite different. It is probable that the tendency to sharpness in its outline is due to the walls and towers of the work in masonry, which, though now gone, is reported to have been at one time present.
Eaton, or Eiton, appears in Domesday as held in capite by the Bishop of Bayeux, but there is no mention of a castle either then or at any later time. The Beauchamps, its later lords, do not there appear as Bedfordshire landowners. In the “Liber Niger,” however, about 1165, Simon de Beauchamp held a barony, under which Hugh de Beauchamp held one knight’s fee.
This Hugh was of Eaton. He was the eldest son of Oliver, a cadet of Milo de Beauchamp, of Bedford. Oliver and Hugh were founders of Bismead Priory, in Eaton parish. Hugh was a considerable baron. He was Custos of Rhuddlan Castle 3 Henry II., and, 22 Henry II., one of those who conveyed Henry’s daughter to Palermo, on her marriage with the King of Sicily. He was slain in Palestine, 33 Henry II., and succeeded by Roger, his brother, and he by a third brother, William, whose son John inherited, and, 6 Henry III., was seized of the family manors of Eaton and Sandy. His son was William, living 42 Henry III., father of Ralph, summoned as Lord Beauchamp of Eaton, and who died 21 Edward I., holding one fee in Sandy and Eaton, no doubt that held by Hugh, his ancestor. He held Eaton in capite, “per baroniam.” His son, Roger de Beauchamp, of Eaton, was the last summoned. He was aged 21 at his father’s death, and his descendants have not been followed up.
44 Edward III., John de Goldington and Jocosa his wife, John Hemmyngford and others, were seized of a third part of Eaton juxta St. Neots, and half of Sandy. 1 Henry IV., Sandy was held by Katherine, wife of Sir Thomas Engayne; and 1 Edward IV., Lord Zouch had Eaton. Long after the extinction of the barons, the barony remained, and Wyboldeston Manor was held of it by Sir John de Greystock. In the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, Eaton was held by the Lords Vaux of Harrowden, who sold it in 1624. They were cadets of Vaux of Gillsland, and are said to have inherited Eaton from the Beauchamps.
Although the manor of Eaton is not unfrequently mentioned in the records, we never hear of the Castle, nor is the addition of “Socon” ever used. Leland writes of “Eiton a good village in interiore ripa” [of the Ouse] ... “where be seen vestigia castelli between the church and the ripe, and almost hard on the ripe.... The ruins of Eiton Castle long to Lord Vaux.” In Leland’s loose language these terms may apply to the earthworks only. It is, however, probable, from present appearances, and from the place having for six descents been the chief, if not the only seat, of barons of the realm, that there was a castle, and Speed, writing a little later, names Woodhill, Tempsford, Eaton, and Ampthill, as the castles of Bedfordshire. It is possible that a very moderate excavation would lay bare the foundations, though no doubt, building materials being scarce in these parts, those who dismantled the castle would make a clean sweep of the masonry.
The position is a very strong one, and the earthworks much resemble those of Huntingdon, and are probably of the same age. The mill is no doubt a very old one, though this does not apply to the present structure.