More information : [TF 4194 8102] Toot Hill, Motte and Bailey [G.T.]. (1)
A mound 25 ft high, with bank and ditch on the south-west and, on the north-east, a large kidney-shaped earthwork with a bank 6 ft high. A motte and bailey. Scheduled. (2)
A strong motte, with double ditched outer bailey forming an original funnel entrance. Published survey (25" 1906) revised. (3)
The `Kidney' earthwork is only the result of surface quarrying and spoil banking. (4)
The Medieval motte and bailey referred to by the previous
authorities was visible as an earthwork and mapped from good
quality air photographs. The motte was visible as a large mound
70m in diameter and centred at TF 4198 8104. No features were
visible on top of the motte. The bailey only partially extends
around the motte. It is defined by two parallel ditches, 200m
long, which curve around the south and west of the motte. A
rectangular ditch defined enclosure sits between the south eastern parts of the bailey ditches at TF 4196 8097. It measures 15m by 10m and its function is not clear.
(Morph No. LI.429.2.1-3)
This description is based on data from the RCHME MORPH2 database. (5)
A roughly circular motte, 8 metres high, with the bailey to the west, bounded by ditches. A second low bank and ditch runs round the northern and eastern sides of the motte and bailey and a series of parallel, V-shaped ditches lie to the west and south. A raised platform lying between the parallel ditches on southern side of the motte is thought to be the remains of a building platform. The site dates to the 11th or 12th centuries, and represents either a fortification dating to the immediate post-Conquest period or to the civil war during the reign of King Stephen. A post medieval house, known as Tothill Manor and Listed Grade II, stands in the western part of the bailey. Scheduled. (6) |