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RAYLEIGH CASTLE

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DESCRIPTION

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A medieval castle of motte and bailey construction, possibly on the site of an earlier fortification. Roman brick fragments and an Anglo-Saxon brooch have been found.

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(TQ 805909) Rayleigh Castle (NR) (1)

Rayleigh Castle was built shortly after the conquest on what is suggested to be an earlier fortification (4). It became ruinous in the C13th and remains now consist of a 50ft high motte, the north-east slope of which has been revetted with masonry, an inner bailey containing building foundations and surrounded by the footings of a curtain wall, and traces of an outer bailey partly destroyed by modern development. All the foundations and masonry were uncovered during excavations in 1909-10 and 1959-61. Many small objects of Medieval period were found as well as Roman brick fragments and an Anglo-Saxon brooch. Scheduled 39. (2-7)

1:2500 survey revised. Motte and bailey in good condition and preserved as an open space. (8)

TQ 80659082. Following the location of a large ditch orientated south west/north east, a 2m wide trench was excavated in Bellingham Lane to record its profile and date. Although its size (c.13m wide, 5m deep) and its position in regard to the castle suggested a town defence or outer bailey, very little early Medieval pottery was found whilst large quantities of C15th or C16th pottery were present in its fill. (9)

Additional references. (10-12)

The baronial castle came into the King's hands in 1163 upon the outlawry of Henry of Essex, and although a little money was spent on its upkeep until 1186, no further expenditure occurred. (13)

The outer bailey ditch was located during a small excavation in 1996. Excavations within the bailey in 1997 found 13th century pottery, but no features. (14)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1965

( 2) General reference

Voss WA, Rayleigh Mount 1951 NT Handbook

( 3) Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) 1923 An inventory of the historical monuments in Essex. Volume IV [south-east]

Page(s)123-4

( 4) Essex Archaeological Society transactions

4, 1893 Page(s)172-8

( 5) Essex Archaeological Society transactions

12, 1913 Page(s)147-185

( 6) by Derek Renn 1973 Norman castles in Britain

Page(s)290-1

( 7) General reference

Anc Mon List 1971 91

( 8) Field Investigators Comments

F1 FGA 14-FEB-66

( 9) Essex archaeology and history : transactions of Essex Archaeological Society

17, 1986 Page(s)162

( 10) Essex archaeology and history : transactions of Essex Archaeological Society

16, 1984-5 Page(s)132

( 11) Medieval archaeology : journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology

Page(s)217

( 12) Scheduled Monument Notification

English Heritage Sams Essex 1987 14

(13) R Allen Brown, H M Colvin and A J Taylor 1963 The history of the King's Works, volume 2 : the Middle Ages

Page(s)804

(14) Essex archaeology and history : transactions of Essex Archaeological Society

28, 1997 Page(s)290-2

(15) Essex archaeology and history : transactions of Essex Archaeological Society

29, 1998

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