Monument Type(s):

• MOTTE AND BAILEY (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• SHRUNKEN VILLAGE? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

The Mount. The remains of a Motte and Bailey castle, much of which was obliterated during the winter of 1967-8. Medieval house sites are said to exist south west of the bailey. The castle may have been built in the reign of Henry III in 1225. The remains were visible during a field visit in 1980. Traces of the motte are visible as very slight earthworks on aerial photographs.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA4287 - 1971 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA4288 - 1994 Evaluation of land to the rear of The Old School House, Marton by SCCAS

Description

The motte (now destroyed) rose from low lying field once part of Marton pool, lying to NE. Bailey lies to SSW and was separated from mottes by wide shallow ditch. The bailey has little defence towards lake, but ditch 6ft deep and bank 7ft high at W angle. Motte was 17ft high with top only 20ft across-Vale of Montgomery type, tentatively ascribed to the activities of Roger de Montgomery and small tenants under his auspices in 1075 -1102, probably after 1086. Plan and section reproduced. <1a>

The motte and half of the bailey of Marton motte were levelled in 1967/8. All that remains is that part of the bailey which lies beyond the hedge in the field to the south <1b>

The site of the motte and its surrounding ditch are still visible although much reduced. The SW side of the bailey remains and its inner bank in the NW rises to a height of 2.6m Low scarps to the SW of the bailey probably indicate the site of medieval buildings. OS FI 1971 <1f>

No change to previous field report. Published 1:2500 survey, 1972, correct. No possible house sites are now visible to the south-west of the castle, nor across the main road to the north-west. <1g> <1>

In October 1993 a brief was prepared for the evaluation of land at the rear of the Old School, a site which lies within the former bailey of the castle <2>

The evaluation was carried out by the SCCAU in January 1994. A trench was excavated by hand in an area of grass to the NW of the former playground. No archaeological features or deposits of any significance were encountered. The evaluation report recommended that no further archaeological provisions were required, except that, if service trenches of a greater depth than 0.4m were to be cut from the development across the former playground, a watching brief of the trenches would be necessary. <3>

Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, Low score as one of 46 Motte and Bailey castles; Low score as one of 16 Shrunken/Shifted Medieval Villages <4>

Assessed for scheduling but rejected. [The above information] indicates that little now remains upstanding of this castle. The motte and half of the bailey were levelled in 1967-68. An archaeological evaluation conducted in 1994 prior to the building of a house in the area of the bailey found no features or deposits of archaeological interest / significance. Not visited. Normal planning controls should apply. <5>

Unit 1: A probable motte of Medieval date, seen as a cropmark, and mapped from non-destructive fieldwork. EH Author: CS, Date: 27/04/94->

-> Unit 2: A probable field boundary of Medieval date, seen as a cropmark, and mapped from poor quality aerial photographs. EH Author: CS, Date: 27/04/94->

-> Unit 3: A possible bank of Medieval date, seen as an earthwork, and mapped from poor quality aerial photographs. EH Author: CS, Date: 27/04/94->

-> Unit 4: A possible ditch of Medieval date, seen as an earthwork, and mapped from poor quality aerial photographs. EH Author: CS, Date: 27/04/94 <6>

[SJ 29040265] Motte and Bailey (NR) (remains of) (NAT) <7>

Series of additional references identified by the NRHE. <8>
The remains of a motte and bailey at Marton are known as The Mount. The motte and much of the bailey were obliterated during the winter of 1967-8. It originally stood at the edge of Marton Pool, now so diminished that its nearest shore lies some 270 yards to the east. Marton hamlet lies south-west of the site along a low ridge at a slightly higher level. The motte stood at the western side of a level marshy field and was cut off from the gently rising ground to the south-west by the arc of a wide shallow and very marshy ditch. It stood to a height of 17 feet with a diameter of 85 feet at base and a mere 20 feet on the flat summit. The roughly rectangular bailey occupied the rising ground to the south-west, measuring internally 185 feet east-west, by 120 feet north-south. On the west and south sides it was defined by a bank and external ditch. To its north was the ditch of the motte, while on the east was a mere scarp, clearly indicating that when the castle was built Marton Pool provided sufficient defence on this flank - as it did for the motte which had no traces of a ditch towards the pool. A hedge-line divided the bailey into two, and it is that part south of the hedge which alone survives. No record of the castle is known but it may have been one of those "mottes in the Vale of Montgomery", whose owners were commanded by Henry III in 1225 "… that without delay they have their mottes defended with good bretasches (timber towers and for palisades), for their own safety and defence of that of those parks". Slight scarps to the west and south-west of the castle may mark part of the Medieval vill, and possible house-sites have been noticed on the other side of the main road. (correspondence (not archived) - Letter P A Barker 17/11/64) <8a> <8b>
Listed by Cathcart King. <8c>

Traces of the motte are visible as very slight earthworks on aerial photographs, including RAF 1060/UK/1468 2120-21 04-MAY-1946, and have been mapped by RCHME's Marches Uplands Mapping Project. The bailey ditch shown on the Ordnance Survey map was obscured by trees on all available photographs and has not been recorded, but a linear earthwork 18m long, possibly a fragment of the bailey bank, was recorded immediately to the south of the motte. Linear earthworks to the west and north of the motte may represent traces of the Medieval vill mentioned by authorities 2-3, and have been recorded separately (SJ 20 SE 17). <9><9a>

Sources

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