A ringwork or motte and bailey mentioned in a pipe roll of 1192-3. The earthwork was destroyed in 1944 when much 12th century pottery was found. A 17th century farmhouse and garden terracing have effectively destroyed the former mound, but vague slopes and a section of water-filled ditch survive on the north west side of the house.
Lavendon lay in the extreme N. of the county, on the border of Bedfordshire. The manor was possessed (temp. Henry III.) by the family of Bidun, and John de Bidun founded an abbey here in the reign of Henry II. Its site was granted (1544) to Sir Edward Peckham, and in 1676 the estate was bought by Dr. Newton, the founder of Hertford College, Oxford, who built a residence on the site of the abbey. After the Biduns the castle was the seat of the Peyvres, or Peovres, and next of the Zouch family, who sold it in 1527 to Lord Mordaunt. In 1620 it was sold to the Comptons, from whom it was purchased by the family of Farrer, Mr. W. F. Farrer being the present owner. There are no remains of the castle above ground, and its site is occupied by the Castle Farm residence. This is encircled by a deep moat, and foundations of vast thickness have often been discovered on the spot ; there are also some ancient earthworks. The castle was standing in 1232. (Castles Of England, Sir James D. Mackenzie, 1896)
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