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Summary

The Mount: a medieval windmill mound 670m south of Bleasby Grange

Full description

A round mound at a road junction standing in a small copse. It has a well-defined ditch and is about 60 feet in diameter. It may be a medieval motte or a barrow. The site not favourable for a round barrow.{1}
The ditch surrounding a circular mound, about 20m in diameter, is 1.2m deep by 4.0m wide and the mound is 2.4m high, curved on the top. The whole monument is surprisingly well defined. A peculiar feature, it is unlikely to be a barrow, it could be a small motte. A shallow pit about 1m square has been dug in the top and a quantity of 19th century pottery and glass scattered around. {2}
This mound has also been interpreted as a windmill mound. It is situated in a small copse called Holt on the 1846 tithe map of Legsby, out of a triangular field called Mill Hill. No date can be assigned to the site, though in 1256 Richard Crane of Bleasby was convicted of theft of goods at Bleasby Mill. {4}
The Mount is thought to represent the site of Bleasby Mill, referred to in documentary sources of the mid 13th century; however, it is known to have been in existence in the 12th century when the adjacent road layout was established. It lies on the former boundary between the medieval townships of Bleasby and Collow, at the corner of a field called Mill Hill. The mound is circular in plan and rounded in profile, approximately 20m in diameter and 2.4m high. A shallow pit roughly 1.5m in diameter was used as a rubbish pit in the 19th century but is now largely filled in. The pit may mark the former position of the wooden post on which the windmill was supported. Buried remains of the windmill structure are expected to be preserved within the mound. Material from the dry ditch, about 5m wide, surrounding the mound was used in its construction. Now between 0.5m wide and 1m in depth, the ditch is crossed on the south side by a causeway, which extends further southwards as a ramp, and would have been used for vehicular access to the windmill. This ditch is in turn surrounded by an outer bank, also about 5m wide and 0.3m high. {6}

<1> HBMC, AM 7, - (Scheduling Record). SLI4229.

<2> HBMC, 1987, AM 107, - (Scheduling Record). SLI4049.

<3> OS CARD INDEX, TF 18 SW 11,1963, SEAMAN B H (Index). SLI2601.

<4> P.L. Everson, C.C. Taylor and C.J. Dunn, 1991, Change and Continuity: Rural Settlement in North-West Lincolnshire, P 126, FIG 94 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI1063.

<5> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1992-1996, National Mapping Programme, TF1383:LI.2.1.1,1992, (Map). SLI3613.

<6> English Heritage, October 2000, The Mount: a medieval windmill mound 670m south of Bleasby Grange, SAM 22769 (Scheduling Record). SLI5999.

Monument Types

• MOTTE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• MOUND (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• WINDMILL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument

Sources and further reading

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.