More information : [SE 5294 1040] Cromwell's Batteries [O.E.]. (1)
Some old batteries said traditonally to have been used by Oliver Cromwell during the destruction of Hampole Old Hall. (2)
The remains of earthworks centred at SE 52381040 have been resurveyed at 1:2500. No further information was obtained from local sources apart from the continuance of the tradition mentioned in Auth.2. The remains are indicative of an oval or rectangular earthwork with a single bank of some strength. Only a short length survives, the remainder having been destroyed by modern development. Though its size and plan suggest a form of ring-motte, it has some similarities with a known Civil War Battery at Cornbury, Oxfordshire. (3)
SE 5297 1044. Cromwell's Batteries motte and bailey castle, Skellow. The monument comprises a motte, c.5m high, surrounded by a ditch with sections of a bailey and rampart surviving to north and west. By and large, the bailey is lost under the road (Cross Hill), but small areas survive relatively undisturbed in private gardens and adjacent land. The motte, which is best defined of the surviving features, lies in the grounds of Skellow Old Hall. A ditch coming through the west boundary of the hall grounds, close to the motte, is interpreted as an inlet or outlet channel for the ditch. Immediately to the west of the motte, areas of the bailey survive in the gardens of Cromwell's Croft and The Cottage, and Edgehill. The most substantial section of bailey and rampart lies to the north of the road, where the latter stands to a height of c.3m. This section would originally have curved round to the west and south to link with the section south of the road. Some modification of these remains is thought to have occured during the Civil War, giving rise to the tradition that they were gun emplacements and the local name Cromwell's Batteries. All modern buildings and the surfaces of paths and driveways are excluded from the scheduling, though the ground beneath is included. The monument is composed of three separate constraint areas. Scheduled no. NY/13214. (4)
A medieval motte/ post medieval battery is visible as an earthwork on air photographs at SE 5299 1043.
The motte measures 26m by 19m. None of the other features mentioned above was identified on the air photographs available to the project.
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