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| Name: | Isfield Motte & Bailey: C12 motte & bailey |
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| HER Ref: | MES4468 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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Designations
- Scheduled Monument 1013222: MOTTE AND BAILEY CASTLE, FISHPOND AND ASSOCIATED EARTHWORKS, SW OF ISFIELD CHURCH
- SHINE: Isfield : deserted medieval village and motte
Summary
Remains of motte & bailey castle, or moated manor. Finds suggest a date of 12th / 13th century
Monument Types
- MANOR HOUSE (AD 12th Century to AD 13th Century - 1100 AD to 1299 AD)
- MOTTE AND BAILEY (AD 12th Century to AD 13th Century - 1100 AD to 1299 AD)
Description
(TQ 44251800) A tongue of land at Isford is utilised as a motte and bailey castle, the motte, c 8ft high, being placed close to the river. (1)
The inner bailey is protected by the motte and by a short cross ditch. The outer bailey has its own ditch on the N and a higher outer bank for two-thirds of the way stretching across the alluvium. The whole area comprises some 4 acres. It would appear that at some later date the motte-ditch was extended into the outer bailey in the curious manner shown (see plan) forming, probably, a fish pond rather than serving any military purpose. A motte with a bailey. The inner bailey contains a depression which may represent the site of a pond, and the outer bailey a 'meandering ditch'. The motte has a small rampart bank on its S and SE sides. There is no evidence of masonry or of foundations of buildings on the site, which is grass-covered. (See plan and cross sections). (2)
(TQ 44251800) Motte and bailey (LB) (3)
As described by F1. Surveyed at 1:2500 (4)
Examination of spoil dredged from the southern outer moat in 1991 produced pottery, tile and leatherwork with a date range of 12th to middle 13th century. Reinterpretation of the site concluded it was more likely a moated manor house (the prediscessor to Isfield Place) constructed to imitate the defences of castles thus expressing the social pretensions of the owner [5]
A survey carried out in 1996 showed that rural sites in East Sussex continued to be damaged or destroyed at the same rate as 1976. The most vulnerable individual sites and site groups were identified and remedial action was suggested. [6]
Sources
| <1> | Serial: Sussex Archaeological Society. 1846. Sussex Archaeological Collections. vol 75 (1934) pp207-8 plan (D H Montgomerie). |
| <2> | Correspondence: 1952. Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigators Comment. F1 RLBW 05-FEB-53. |
| <4> | Correspondence: 1952. Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigators Comment. F2 PAS 03-MAY-72. |
| <5> | Serial: Sussex Archaeological Society. 1846. Sussex Archaeological Collections. vol 130 (1992) pp 140-146. Gardner, M. |
| <6> | Report: Archaeology South-East. ASE 1996 plough damage survey (1996) Dunkin, D. |
Associated Events
- Field observation on TQ 41 NW 1
- Field observation on TQ 41 NW 1
- Isfield Motte, Isfield: Watching Brief
- The East Sussex Plough Damage Survey 1995-1996 : Survey
Associated Monuments - none recorded
Associated Finds - none recorded
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