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Summary

A motte castle with part of an earlier medieval settlement and associated field system

Monument Type(s):

• CASTLE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• MOAT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• EARTHWORK (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• RIDGE AND FURROW (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• WINDMILL MOUND? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Associated Finds:

• SHERD (11th century to 13th century - 1001 AD to 1300 AD)

Associated Events:

• Earthwork survey, Giant's Hill, Rampton
• Geophysical and topographical survey at Giant's Hill, Rampton, 2014

Protected Status:

• SHINE: Earthwork remains of medieval ridge and furrow, Giant's Hill, Rampton

Full description

1. Giant's Hill: a motte castle with part of an earlier Medieval settlement and associated field system. This strongly moated site, about a furlong to the E of Rampton Church, is comparable in form to Burwell Castle and consists of a rectangular island 150ft long and 135ft wide, surrounded by an extensive wet moat fed from the large land drain which flows by on the E side. On the S, E and N sides the moat is 50ft wide, but to the W it attains the great breadth of 120ft. Water still stands regularly in the southern and eastern sides. At the SW corner there is a low causeway which may or may not be Mod. Along the outer edge of the moat to the N there is a mound of earth 150ft long, 45ft wide, and rising from 6ft high at the E end to twice the height at the W. Outside this again are several small banks, shown on the plan, which look like old inclosures. Here, as at Burwell, this long bank probably represents spoil from the moat. The island site has been raised from 2ft to 4ft above ground level, but it is so dominated by the long bank that it can have had little defensive value. It is permissible to see here another of the strongholds ordered by Stephen and abandoned unfinished when the death of Geoffrey de Mandevillle in 1144 made them unnecessary. There is no sign that any stone structures were ever raised on the island, and the existence of the causeway may be another symptom of incompleteness.

2. In 1942 the Home Guard dug trenches on the inside of this earthwork and exposed the foundations of walls built of rubble and bricks which appeared to be C15. Nothing else was seen.

This site is as described by the VCH. The small banks to the NE are visible but in places almost destroyed. The earthworks generally are in good condition. The mound to the NW of the moat overlies early ridge and furrow and may possibly be a mill mound. There are minor banks and ditches between the moat and the church which were likely for drainage purposes.

7. This site lies immediately E of Rampton village, near the fen edge, on Ampthill Clay at 5m above OD. It is the remains of an unfinished castle, dating from the mid C12 Civil War between King Stephen and Geoffrey de Mandeville. In 1143 Geoffrey de Mandeville, who had fallen from power, seized the Isle of Ely and from there proceeded to devastate the surrounding countryside. In an attempt to contain him the King ordered the erection of a number of temporary castles along the fen edges. Burwell Castle is known to have been one of these and others perhaps existed at Swavesey and Cottenham. In August 1144 de Mandeville attacked the still incomplete castle at Burwell and was mortally wounded. The rebellion then collapsed and all the castles were abandoned. It has for long been assumed that Giant's Hill was also unfinished when it was deserted and the new survey confirms this. Many of the features noted at Burwell are repeated here and the survey shows that this castle, like Burwell was actually constructed on the sites of earlier houses which were perhaps demolished to make way for the fortress. The castle consists of a roughly rectangular, flat topped mound, with markedly curved S and E sides, up to 1,5m above the adjacent land. It is surrounded by a deep flat bottomed moat or ditch up to 2m deep. The ditch is partly blocked in the SW corner by a large sloping causeway or ramp. It is not possible to ascertain whether this ramp has been produced by the dumping of soil or if it is the natural ground surface left undug by the builders. However by analogy with Burwell Castle it is likely to represent the route by which earth was being taken onto the mound when the work he was stopped. Within the surrounding ditch on its W side are low scarps no more than 0,25m high. These features occur at Burwell and there excavation proved them to be the result of the work being abandoned before the ditch was completed. Immediately N of the castle is a large irregular mound 1,5m high lying along the edge of the moat. At its W end it takes the form of a series of uneven mounds, apparently the result of dumping spoil. Uneven mounds such as these also exist at Burwell, on a larger scale, and all must represent the piling up of earth dug out of the adjacent ditch prior to its intended removal. The mound lies on top of, and clearly postdates, two small rectangular embanked enclosures, the southern ends of which are buried under the mound. Immediately W of these is a larger ditched enclosure whose irregular S side also indicates is that it once extended further S and has been cut by the moat. To the W of the castle are the remains of three more rectangular closes, separated by shallow ditches, and bounded on the N by a larger ditch up to 1m deep. These closes may also represent crofts of former houses, though no trace exists of any buildings within them. The realignment of the Mod road to the S which took place in 1852 during the enclosure of the common fields of the parish, may have destroyed any house sites which existed.

8. 1754 Map of Lordship and Manor shows 4 small fields following the general outlines of the earthwork - Moat Hill, Moat Yard, Hall Barn, Champions Close.

3. A strong moated site, with a central rectangular platform, comparable in general layout to Burwell Castle. There is still an extensive wet moat surrounding the platform, which is only three quarters to one and a half metres above ground level, and extensive spoil banks to the N. Presents a generally unfinished appearance. It is suggested that, as with Burwell, this is one of the strongholds thrown up by Stephen against Geoffrey de Mandeville and rendered superfluous by the latter's death. The moat is still wet, but choked with willow, weed and a quantity of dead wood. The centre of the platform is grass covered with scrubby hawthorn and mature trees fringing the grass area. There are causeways to NW and SW. Earthworks are in evidence in field to W.

4. The site has now been cleared of scrub and undergrowth.

5. Contains a detailed description of the present condition of the monument. The scheduled area has been extended to include the fields to the N and W of the castle containing earthworks of the Medieval village and the ridge and furrow ploughing of the former open fields. The top of the motte was partially altered by small-scale activity in the Second World War, but fragments of early masonry confirmed that it contains Medieval building foundations. The waterlogged ditches are also likely to include evidence for the Medieval environment and farming economy of the adjacent area. The associated village and ridge and furrow earthworks are partially overlain by the castle earthworks, favouring the preservation of archaeological remains and a buried land surface, which could yield further environmental evidence.
Function: defensive, against de Mandeville
Finished? no
Occupation: C12
Relationship to surrounding Medieval village earthwork settlements.

10. The principle archaeological monument in Rampton os Giants Hill, the site of a castle that was almost certainly built by royal command during the mid 12th century. The rectangular platform surrounded by a wide not-quite-complete moat as an excellent example of an unfinished fortification of this period.

11. Samples were taken from 12 boreholes sunk along the centre-line of Giant's Hill Moat at approx. 30-40m intervals. The sediments generally comprised grey silty clays with organic detrital muds, organic silts and occasional layers of sand, pebbles and brick rubble/masonry.

12. A detailed geophysical and topographic survey was undertaken. Geophysical survey identified anomalies consistent with structures and enclosures on the castle mound. The other areas outside of the mound did identify some low resistence anomalies of possible further enclosures. The earthwork survey supports previous research in identifying topographical features consistent with an apparently unfinished medieval castle.

13-15. The medieval moat of Giant's Hill and surrounding settlement features of Rampton are visible as cropmarks on air photographs, and as earthworks on lidar and air photographs, centred at TL 4309 6800. The moat is sub-rectangular in plan, being very broad (up to over 40 metres), and encloses a sub-triangular platform measuring approximately 63 metres by 50 metres diagonally.

<1> Salzman, L.F (ed), 1948, The Victoria County History of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. Volume 2, 37 (CW Phillips), (plan) (Bibliographic reference). SCB14649.

<2> OS Corr 6in (Bibliographic reference). SCB9759.

<3> Renn, D.F., 1959, Mottes: A Classification. Antiquity 33: 106-12 (Article in serial). SCB752.

<4> 1958, OS 6 inch map (Map). SCB8930.

<5> CUCAP APs, 23/03/1956, RU 1 - 5 (Aerial Photograph). SCB4006.

<6> CUCAP APs 30/05/1963, AHB 38 -39 (Aerial Photograph). SCB3220.

<7> Brown, A.E. and Taylor, C.C., 1977, Cambridgeshire Earthwork Surveys, II. PCAS 67: 85-102, 97 - 99 (Article in serial). SCB10869.

<8> 1754, Map of Lordship and Manor (Cartographic materials). SCB97.

<9> Seymour, L., 2000, A Monument in its Landscape: Giant's Hill, Rampton, Cambridgeshire (Unpublished document). SCB19621.

<10> Taylor, A., 1998, Archaeology of Cambridgeshire, Vol.2: South East Cambridgeshire and the Fen Edge (Bibliographic reference). SCB21794.

<11> Boreham, S., Stratigraphy of Sediments from Giant's Hill Moat, Rampton - Short Report (Unpublished report). SCB46570.

<12> Wright, D. Trick, S & Creighton, O, 2014, Geophysical and topographical survey at Giant's Hill, Rampton (Unpublished report). SCB46587.

<13> SW Cambridgeshire project 2014 (NHPP), 2016, LIDAR TL4368 DTM 18-OCT-2010, 371864 (Geospatial data). SCB55008.

<14> SW Cambridgeshire project 2014 (NHPP), 2016, LIDAR TL4367 DTM 18-OCT-2010, 371864 (Geospatial data). SCB55029.

<15> SW Cambridgeshire project 2014 (NHPP), 2016, LIDAR TL4268 DSM 18-OCT-2010, 371864 (Geospatial data). SCB55030.

<16> Wilson, S., 2010, Aerial photograph of Giant's Hill (Aerial Photograph). SCB21834.

<17> Taylor, A., Castles of Cambridgeshire (Bibliographic reference). SCB19242.

<18> Baird, J., Field Investigator Comments, 19/11/71 (Verbal communication). SCB62256.

<19> Dickson, R., Field Investigator Comments, 9/6/82 (Verbal communication). SCB60613.

Sources and further reading

Documents

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