| Summary : A large mound, possibly a motte and bailey within the grounds of Marlborough College. The first documentary evidence for the existence of a castle is during the reign of King Stephen, who held it in 1139 from the Empress Matilda. It is possible that it existed earlier. Repairs and construction of a ring wall around the motte are recorded for 1209-11. Further building occurred during the reign of Henry II, including a Great Tower. The castle was in ruins by 1403. Parts of the keep and curtain wall have been identified by excavation and a Roman coin recovered. A chapel was allegedly situated within the bailey. The mound was incorporated into a garden layout during the late 17th century/early 18th century, with the construction of a summerhouse on the top and a grotto at the base. From 1273-1369 it was in possession of the queen as a dower house. There was considerable speculation that the mound has origins in the later Neolithic, by analogy with Silbury Hill, particularly since the discovery in 1912 of several red deer antler fragments within the mound, and the collection of some struck flints from the ground surface to the south and south west in the early 1920s. In 2011 a major conservation programme undertaken by the Marlborough Mound Trust included a programme of radiocarbon dating that proved the mound dates back to circa 2400 BC, and is therefore the same date as Silbury Hill. |
More information : (SU 18376866) The Mount (NAT) Castle Mound (NR)
(SU 18416860) St Nicholas's Chapel (NR) (site of) (NAT) (1)
A motte and bailey castle in the grounds of Marlborough College, of which only the 60 ft high motte (now surmounted by a water tank) remains. A buttress of a round keep was unearthed on the motte and excavations in 1936 revealed rubble foundations of a portion of the curtain wall. (See Plan) (2-3).
Although Marlborough was a royal borough frequently visited by Norman Kings, there is no mention of a castle before 1138 (5) However, the fact that William I imprisoned Bishop Aethelfric of Selsey in Marlborough, and that Henry I held his Easter court at Marlborough in 1110, and signed a number of charters from Marlborough suggests that a castle existed then. (4) Substantial building took place between 1175 and 1179, but the castle had deteriorated considerably by 1403 after when it remained neglected. Henry III spent the enormous sum of £2000 on works at the castle between 1227 and 1272. This included work on two chapels, the hall, the keep, two barbicans, a curtain wall, two bridges, gatehouse, and the Queen's apartments. From 1273-1369 it was part of the Queen's possessions. (4-5)
A chapel of St Nicholas belonging to the castle stood, by conjecture, within its bailey (see plan) (3). A black marble font, said to have come from the chapel, is now in Preshute Church. Traditionally it was used for the baptism of King John and Edward the Black Prince (6-8)
Roman coins were discovered in the mound during the C17th and the remains of red deer antler picks were found between two and three feet below the surface, about half way up, in 1912 (2). (9)
The only visible remaining features of the original castle are a high, steep sided motte, now with a spiral footpath to the top where the water tower stands and possibly traces of the bailey. Tithe Map of 1843 shows the then surviving moat and leat and the area within this now destroyed feature is at present slightly higher than that to the south and west, probably indicating part of the perimeter of the bailey and a portion of the area enclosed by the C14th moat.
The position of St Nicholas's Chapel is, as stated by Brentnall, conjectural and is therefore insufficient evidence for the OS siting.
There seems to be no evidence for the "Castle (site of)" allegedly east of the moat (OS 25" 1886).
Published 1:2500 survey correct. (10)
Additional references. (11-12)
Listed by Cathcart King. (13)
A survey of the Mount by English heritage in 2001 found no evidence of origins before the Mediaeval period. It probably ceased to be used as a castle in the 16th century, after which the Mount was incorporated into a formal landscape garden. (14)
Excavations in 2000 to the north of the castle encountered a deep V-shaped ditch which may be the outer bailey ditch. (15)
Radiocarbon dating tests were carried out on charcoal samples taken from Marlborough Mound which dated it to circa 2400 BC. The work is part of a major conservation programme being undertaken by the Marlborough Mound Trust. (16-17)
|