More information : During routine perambulation an undescribed earthwork was noted at SX 69955655. It consists of an oval mound, 2.5 m. high, with a concave top, and having a well defined ditch on the northern and western sides; from the outside of the ditch on the NW a bank, 0.4 m. high and with no apparent ditch, proceeds northward and then eastward for approximately 75 m.; to the west of this is another bank, 0.3 m. high, which has a slight ditch on its western side. The earthwork is situated on a small spur from which the ground falls away steeply to the south-east. It appears to be a ring and bailey, of which most of the bailey has become obliterated. The additional bank on the west is difficult to account for, but may represent a strengthening of the defences on the exposed side.(1)
Possible trace of the westerly bank appears on air photographs.(2)
A medieval earthwork occupying an eastward projecting spur. The castle mound consists of a prominent ring-mound formed by the cutting of a ditch "L" through the natural spur. The ditch is some 5 metres wide across the top narrowing to 2 metres at the bottom and now about 1 metre deep. It is aligned roughly NNW-SSE and curves outwards on the west. Thus isolated the castle mound measures some 46 metres in diameter and is almost perfectly circular at its base apart from on the south east where it has been clipped by a leat. It has a maximum height of 3.5 metres above the bottom of the ditch on the south west, where it is best preserved. The top of the mound appears to have been divided into three distinct areas, but has also been mutilated by trees, tree hollows and possible quarrying. An oval mound is situated on the lip of the outer ditch on the north, is about 15 metres by 10 metres by 1 metre high. Its purpose is not clear but appears to be more than merely upcast material from the ditch on the west side. It may have been reinforcement to provide better protection on this the most vulnerable side of the site. There is a similar, but smaller, projecting ditched spur. It may be, however that these extensions are the west part of a bailey which lay on the lower side of the castle mound.
Although Higham, 1979, refers to this site as an apparently mutilated motte, Kenyon, 1990, states that some sites do not fall easily into the category of either motte or ringwork, and no single term can be used to adequately describe them. This site displays characteristics of both motte and ringwork, and may therefore be one of these enigmatic sites. (3)
Scheduled, National Number 33766. Classified as a ringwork with an outer bailey to the North of the ringwork projecting 20m from the ringwork, and up tp 45m across. (4)
Ringwork and bailey castle 400 metres south of Langford Barton. (5) |