| Summary : The remains of a motte, later used as a prospect mound, located in a commanding position 100 metres north of The Hall. The Hall was built in the late 18th century to replace an earlier timber-framed mansion nearby. The steep-sided motte measures approximately 25 metres in diameter at the base, around 7 metres across the top and stands 5.7 metres high. The size of the mound indicates that it would only have supported a small structure such as a watch tower. The motte was originally encircled by a ditch. The motte appears on an estate map of 1775, as a prospect mound, possibly surmounted with a summerhouse. In 1920, a small reservoir was built into the top of the motte. Scheduled. |
More information : (SJ 58113431) Mound (NAT)
(SJ 580342) Sandford Pool (NAT) (1)
An extremely small mound close to a stream which forms a large lake on its western side, and supplies a series of ponds on its north, close to Sandford Hall. (2)
Mound at Sandford Hall listed but not visited. (3)
Considered to be a barrow but not confirmed. (4)
Whitfield suggests that it is probably a Jacobean garden mound as there is still a summerhouse on top. (5)
A Medieval fishpond, still water filled, lies to the west of the mound. The road from Newport to Whitchurch was diverted sometime after 1335 by Richard de Sandford in order to enlarge the pond. (6-7)
The mound at SJ 58113631 is probably ornamental. It is 3.4m high, constructed of earth, and carries a spiral path on a terrace to its summit. The mound is neither firm enough nor large enough to be a castle mound (but is scheduled as a Castle Mound), (b) and appears too well preserved (ie too steep sided) to be a
barrow. (8)
Scheduled as a Castle Mound. (9)
The earthen mound at Sandford Hall measures 20.0m in diameter at the base, 3.4m in height, and has a spiral path to the summit which is only 4.0m across. The ground rises gradually to the east; to the west the mound overlooks a short slope down to Sandford Pool, and to the north there is a similar slope down to a chain of ponds (all water-filled). To the south the ground is level to Sandford Hall, beyond which it falls away into the valley of the Bailey Brook.
The summit of the mound now supports a circular concrete structure, possibly a water tank, dated 1920. 20.0m to the south of the mound there is an hexagonal brick dove cote extensively restored in 1930, but which, like the mound, is shown on a plan of circa 1775 (see sketch copy) (c).
At this period the mound was contained within the garden of a house, of which no traces are now visible apart from a level area covered by nettles. This house lay within 10.0m of the mound on its west side.
Although the mound has a superficial resemblance to a borders motte it is very small and the siting seems to have little strategic significance. The absence of a ditch suggests that the material was brought from elsewhere (? one of the fishponds to the north, on the site of the house to the west), the terraced path to the summit has the appearance of an original feature, and the summit is very small. Whitfield (5) notes a summerhouse on top, and this probably explains the purpose of the mound. There is a well-known 17th century example in the garden of Boscobel House some 25 miles to the south-east (SJ 80 NW).
Published survey (1:2500) correct. (10)
SJ 581 343. Sandford Castle mound. Scheduled. (11)
SJ 5811 3431. The remains of a motte, later used as a prospect mound, located in a commanding position 100 metres north of The Hall. The Hall was built in the late 18th century to replace an earlier timber-framed mansion nearby. The steep-sided motte measures approximately 25 metres in diameter at the base, around 7 metres across the top and stands 5.7 metres high. The size of the mound indicates that it would only have supported a small structure such as a watch tower. The motte was originally encircled by a ditch. The motte appears on an estate map of 1775, as a prospect mound, possibly surmounted with a summerhouse. In 1920, a small reservoir was built into the top of the motte. Scheduled. (12)
Listed by Cathcart King. (13) |