Monument Type(s):

• BAILEY (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• BOUNDARY DITCH? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• DITCH (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• PIT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• TRACKWAY (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1901 AD)

Summary

Earthwork ditch of medieval date, possibly a boundary ditch, or part of a disproportionately large outer bailey of Knockin Castle. Excavation in 2014-2019 suggested the presence of two ditches, probably forming the defences of a medieval settlement lying to the west of, and associated with Knockin Castle.

Related records

Associated Finds

• FSA2638 - SHERD (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Associated Events

• ESA7104 - 1980 DBA and walkover survey of the Parish of Knockin, Shropshire by V E Turner
• ESA7575 - 2011 DBA of land at Knockin, Shropshire by Ironbridge Archaeology
• ESA7578 - 2014 Trial trenching, land N of Lower House Farm, Knockin, Shropshire by CPAT
• ESA8969 - 2019 Excavation for gas tanks on land N of Lower House Farm, Knockin by CPAT (Ref: 15/03779/OUT)
• ESA8982 - 2018-2019 Trial trenching, strip, map and sample and WB on land to W of Church Lane, Knockin by CPAT (Ref: 15/03779/OUT)
• ESA9179 - 2019 DBA of land N of Church Lane, Knockin, Shropshire by CPAT (Ref: PREAPP/19/00137)

Description

It has been suggested that the borough of Knockin may also have been surrounded by an earthwork. The curved ditch to the N of the castle mound which is visible on APs might represent such an earthwork <1>

See also PRN 01121 <3>

The medieval settlement of Knockin is believed to have been deliberately planned and laid out in the mid to late 12th century. It is unclear if this had any physical
defences. It is believed that the motte was surrounded by bailey, that there was a bailey surrounding the site now occupied by the rectory, the church itself may also have had its own bailey, whilst an earthwork beyond the motte guarded the manorial mill. It is also thought that the borough may have been surrounded by an earthwork, vestiges of which were recorded by Val Turner [<1>]. <4>

An archaeological evaluation, comprising the excavation of four trenches with a total combined length of 80m, was undertaken in connection with proposals for a development on land to the north of Lower House Farm, Knockin (centred on SJ 3327 2234). The site lay within an area which is thought to have formed part of a potentially planned medieval village and the evaluation was intended to examine the possibility that traces of medieval settlement survived. A large ditch was exposed in two of the trenches, measuring up to about 6.0m wide and 2.5m deep, and was perhaps the most significant feature revealed. There was evidence in Trench B of an associated bank on its eastern side and together these imply a defensive earthwork. This had previously been identified to the N (<1>) on the north side of the medieval timber castle and it has been previously speculated that this formed part of an earthwork surrounding the borough of Knockin. A combination of the evaluation results with the examination of aerial photographs seems to suggest, however, that there was an enclosure, potentially ovoid in shape and of about 2.2ha, on the west and north side of the castle. Perhaps this was a disproportionately large outer bailey although its true nature will only be revealed by further study. ->

-> The continuation of the course of the ditch observed in trenches A and B can be clearly seen from the air, in aerial photographs which predate modern housing developments (e.g. <6>). It formerly extended further to the north as a visible earthwork before continuing to the north and then east as a fossilised boundary. The adjoining field to the east of Trench A still retains evidence of the earthwork, which curves to the south‐east as it approaches the main road through the village. <5>

Further to <5>, further evaluation was undertaken on this site in late 2018, early 2019. Additional features were revealed by the work, including a post-medieval metalled trackway running across the eastern part of the site from north to south and a second ditch immediately to its east. This ditch was initially undated, but seemed to run broadly parallel to the medieval ditch seen in 2014. ->

-> Given the potential importance of these features in understanding the medieval activity in Knockin, the archaeological curator determined that further mitigation was required in the eastern part of the development site. This was carried out in early 2019 and comprised a strip, map and excavate exercise on a building plot to the north of the village war memorial and a watching brief along the first 60m of the development access road from the street frontage. These works identified additional features in this area and proved that the second ditch was of medieval origin. One of the features was an oven or corn-drying kiln. <6>

This feature is clearly separated from the hollow way (PRN 03721) to its west in <5>. However ,it is possible that PRN 03721 and PRN 03723 have been a little conflated in previous reports i.e. <1> and this will require further investigation to understand more fully. <8>

In 2019, an archaeological excavation was carried out on the site of a new housing development on land to the north of Lower House Farm, Knockin, Shropshire. Previous evaluations (<5><6>) had been carried out within the area of the development which had identified two ditches probably forming the defences of a medieval settlement lying to the west of, and associated with Knockin Castle. ->

-> Subsequent to the completion of the earlier work, it was decided that communal gas tanks would need to be installed; lack of available space elsewhere within the development area meant that these had to be placed in an area known to contain the inner of the two ditches and an archaeological excavation was therefore required in advance of their installation. The excavation involved the removal by hand of the ditch deposits down to the foundation level for the gas tanks. The results corroborated earlier work which had suggested that the ditch was of medieval origin and had gone out of use before the start of the post-medieval period.->

-> Further evidence was identified for activity in the space between the two ditches and this now seems most likely to represent encroachment of settlement into the area of the defences in the late medieval period, once the inner ditch had been abandoned and infilled. The outer ditch seems to have continued in use as a boundary into the post-medieval period. <9>

The projected line of the northern extent of the ditch was adjusted based on assessment work undertaken on a site to the N of Church Lane. Fig 3. of this report maps the project line of these double ditches, based on a map of 1766. It was noted as surviving as a low earthwork across the assessment area. <10>

Sources

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