If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.
| Name: | THE MOUNT, medieval motte & bailey |
|---|
| HER No.: | 228 |
|---|
| Type of Record: | Monument |
|---|
Summary
Motte and oval bailey, surviving as earthworks
Full Description
The Mount is a motte and bailey castle, of figure-of-eight plan. The motte is oval, 30m by 15m and 5m high, located in the western loop of the 'eight' and surrounded b ya steep-sided ditch, 8m wide and 3m deep. Further defence was provided by an outer bank, now about 0.5m high. A wooden tower would have been built on the motte, with timber palisades around the perimeter of the ditch. The second loop of the 'eight' formed the bailey, the southern defences of which are visible as a continuation of the ditch around the motte. The bailey was originally 40m across, and was linked to the motte by an entrance causeway. A second causeway bridges the motte defences just north of the first. The bailey would have held service quarters and stores for the garrison.
The castle dates to around 1100 AD, and it is thought that earlier Saxon remains survive beneath the earthworks. In the 19th century the site was incorporated as a feature in an ornamental garden, at which time the bailey ditch was partly infilled and a summer house or prospect tower built on the motte, which has now been completely demolished; an icehouse was also built within or just beside the motte.
The Mount is a Scheduled Ancient Monument (No. 20406).
Protected Status:
- Scheduled Monument 20406: The Mount: a motte and bailey castle
Monument Types
- CASTLE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- MOAT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- GARDEN FEATURE (19th Century to Victorian - 1817 AD to 1858 AD)
- ICEHOUSE (19th Century to Victorian - 1817 AD to 1858 AD)
- PROSPECT TOWER (19th Century to Victorian - 1817 AD to 1858 AD)
Associated Finds: None recorded
Associated Events: None recorded
Sources and Further Reading
| --- | SBD10507 - Photograph: BCC Photographic Unit. F600/16-17 |
| --- | SBD10508 - Slide: HER Slide Archive. 5443-5444 |
| --- | SBD10533 - Bibliographic reference: Nikolaus Pevsner. 1968. Buildings of England, Bedfordshire and the County of Huntingdon and Peterborough. p 93 |
| --- | SBD10551 - Unpublished document: Bedfordshire & Luton Archives and Records Service Documents. BLARS: LL 4/4, Map, 1793 |
| --- | SBD10574 - Article in serial: 1908. Victoria County History, Bedfordshire. Vol 1, p 286 & fig |
| --- | SBD10576 - Article in monograph: South Midlands Archaeology. Vol 20, 1990, p 7 |
| --- | SBD10628 - Cartographic materials: 1901, 1902. OS 25" 2nd edition. TL 0272 3429 |
| --- | SBD10706 - Bibliographic reference: Wadmore. 1920. Earthworks of Bedfordshire. pp 105-107 & fig |
| --- | SBD10783 - Unpublished document: 1937. Bedfordshire Regional Planning Authority Report. p 187 |
| --- | SBD10803 - Scheduling record: English Heritage. SAM record form. No 20406 |
| --- | SBD10870 - Bibliographic reference: A Brown. 1987. Fieldwork for Archaeologists and Local Historians. p 46 |
| --- | SBD10871 - Unpublished document: C C Taylor, A E Brown. C C Taylor, A E Brown. Survey plan |
| --- | SBD10957 - Unpublished document: OS: TL 03. TL 03 SW 3 |
| --- | SBD10962 - Unpublished document: Galliford Construction. Survey documents, Nov 1973 |
Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.