Castle Camps Castle Camps was a Norman Castle located in what is now the civil parish of Castle Camps , Cambridgeshire . Owners . Castle Camps was originally a Saxon manor , belonging to Wulfwin , a Thane of King Edward the Confessor . After the Norman invasion , William the Conqueror gave the manor to Aubrey de Vere I , ancestor to the Earls of Oxford . The castle remained in the de Vere family until 1584 when it was sold by Edward de Vere , 17th Earl of Oxford , to Thomas Skinner ( d . 1596 ) , Lord Mayor of London . On 2 August 1607 it was bought by Thomas Sutton , who endowed it to Charterhouse , who in turn sold all the estate except Castle Farm and Manor in 1919 . Between 1941 and 1945 a large part of the land of became an airfield . History . In 1086 , it was recorded in the Domesday Book : Castle Camps [ " Canpas " ] : " Robert Gernon holds 2 hides in CAMPS , and Thurstan from him . Land for 6 ploughs . In lordship 2 ; 8 villagers with 8 smallholders have 4 ploughs . 6 slaves ; meadow for 2 ploughs ; woodland , 12 pigs . Value £4 ; when acquired 30s ; before 1066 40s . Leofsi held this land under Earl Harold [ former king ] , and could withdraw without his permission . " " In CAMPS Aubrey de Vere holds 2½ hides . Land for 11 ploughs . In lordship , 1 hide and 1 virgate ; 4 ploughs there . 17 villagers with 4 smallholders have 7 ploughs . 6 slaves ; meadow for 3 ploughs ; woodland for 500 pigs ; from village grazing 8s . Total value £15 , when acquired £12 ; before 1066 as much . " " Wulfwin , King Edward ' s thane , held this manor . Norman holds ½ hide of this land from Aubrey . Land for 1 plough ; it is there . The value is and always was 40s . " The " Inquisitio Comitatus Cantabrigiensis " , however , stated that there was land for 12 ploughs ; 20 head of cattle , 134 sheep , 43 pigs , 50 goats , 2 horses ; and that Norman holds ½ hide from Aubrey separate from the 2½ hides , making up part of a five - hide assessment . Aubrey de Vere I may have fortified the manor house or ordered a Motte - and - bailey castle constructed , although the castle could date from the twelfth century . In the later twelfth century it would have been the largest fortress in the county of Cambridgeshire and was notable for its small bailey and the size of its motte , whose flat top covered just over an acre . There are records of work being carried out in the castle between 1265 and 1331 , and it has been suggested that this could refer to the construction of the new bailey . In the late 15th century , a four - story brick tower was attached to the castle . The brick tower remained until 1779 when it was blown down by a high wind . The manor house was rebuilt in the 16th century , but fell down in 1738 . Part of the back wall was then used in the construction of a smaller farmhouse , called Castle Farm . Most of this wall still stands . About this time a sketch was made of the Castle by S H Buck , dated 1731 . No warfare was recorded here ; though justices of the peace were driven away by force of arms in 1526 , during quarrels between a dowager countess and the new earl . Present . The only remains of the Norman Castle which still exist above ground is a piece of rubble in the yard to the south of the present farmhouse and Earthworks . It is a Scheduled Monument .