More information : (ST 769319) MOTTE & BAILEY (GT). (1)
'Castle Orchard', a motte and bailey earthwork.
Excavations were made inside it, in 1879, by Pitt-Rivers, in the
rampart and outer ditch. They were seen to be of later construction than the underlying pits forming part of the Pen Pits complex -
ST 73 SE 5. Norman and glazed Md pottery was found and is in Taunton Museum. A detailed description with measurements of the earthworks is given by Bothamley. The valley is occupied by farm buildings. MOW records state that shortly before the 1939-45 war a trial excavation was carried out at the motte and a battered stone wall with flint was discovered. (2-5)
A very good example of a motte and bailey castle occupying the east end of a steep sided densely wooded spur. The motte has an uneven top resulting from excavations, particularly those of 1939 where the trenches are still open though in part collapsed. Such masonry as can be seen forms no intelligible plan. The bailey is to the west of the motte with a deep ditch cutting it off from the spur. In the south-east corner a quarried out platform seems to incorporate a building site but this platform may be of subsequent date and not connected with the fortifications. It now affords the only reasonable approach to the interior. There are no traces of bridge abutments at the ends of the bailey. Immediately north of the castle is a natural shelf, much lower than the spur. Part of this has been enclosed to form an outer ward, utilising a steep valley slope on the east and north east and constructing a bank and ditch along the north west to about the bailey ditch. The bank is now approximately 2.0m high and very spread, the outer ditch mostly completely silted, but 0.4m deep in two short sections. Surveyed at 1/2500. (6-7)
Listed. (8)
The castle should be seen in the context of its relationship to Penselwood village and two other fortified sites at Charlton Musgrave and Penselwood, with which Castle Orchard may have formed part of a unified programme of castle-building. (9) |