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Brightwell Castle

Castles in BerkshireEngland castle stubsSouth Oxfordshire District

Brightwell Castle was in the village of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, between the towns of Didcot and Wallingford (grid reference SU578908), now in Oxfordshire but until 1974 in Berkshire, in England. The castle was built in 1145 by King Stephen. At the time there was civil war known as The Anarchy between King Stephen and his cousin Empress Matilda, whose headquarters were at nearby Wallingford Castle. In 1153 the castle was destroyed by Matilda's son, who later became Henry II. A manor house now stands on the site.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Brightwell Castle (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Brightwell Castle
Brightwell Street, South Oxfordshire Brightwell-cum-Sotwell

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Wikipedia: Brightwell CastleContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 51.61307 ° E -1.16665 °
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Address

Saint Agatha

Brightwell Street
OX10 0SB South Oxfordshire, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell
England, United Kingdom
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Nearby Places

Wittenham Clumps
Wittenham Clumps

Wittenham Clumps are a pair of wooded chalk hills in the Thames Valley, in the civil parish of Little Wittenham, in the historic county of Berkshire, although since 1974 administered as part of South Oxfordshire district. The higher of the two, Round Hill, is 390 feet (120 m) above sea-level. The 350 feet (110 m) Castle Hill is about 380 yards (350 m) south-east and was the site of an Iron Age hill fort. A third hill, not normally considered one of The Clumps, is Brightwell Barrow, further to the south-east. The grassed slopes of The Clumps lead up to summits wooded by the oldest beech tree plantings in England, dating to the 1740s. Standing over 70 metres above their surroundings, the Clumps have a prominent appearance and panoramic views, with the north slopes overlooking villages and towns whose sites mark some of the first settlements of the English. The view from The Clumps was described by the artist Paul Nash, who first saw them in 1911, as "a beautiful legendary country haunted by old gods long forgotten".The Clumps are the most visited outdoor site in the administrative county of Oxfordshire, attracting over 200,000 visitors a year. A car park was added in 1971, and the extensive network of paths are accessible by foot all year round. A path through the wooded area at the top of Round Hill has enabled access since 2005, after being closed for twenty years. The site and its surroundings are maintained as a Nature Reserve by the Earth Trust.