Monument Type(s):

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

Summary

Scheduled Monument: A good example of a medieval earthwork fortification, of particular interest because of its positioning right on Offa's Dyke, overlooking an important river crossing.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA1713 - 1983 field observation by English Heritage
• ESA9325 - 2020 DBA and walkover survey on land at Brompton Mill, Brompton by Glyn Barratt (Ref: 20/01020/FUL)

Description

A mound and bailey castle. The mound is about 30ft high, 100ft diameter at the bottom and 25ft at the top. It is surrounded by a dry ditch 6ft -8ft deep. Undamaged apart from a slight disturbance on NW side. The bailey lies to the SE and is rectangular in form. The E of the ditch is occupied by a mill and the S by farm buildings. The mound is covered with beech trees, the bailey is an orchard. IAM for DOE (nd) <1>

Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, Medium score as one of 46 Motte and Bailey castles <7>

Scheduling revised in 1996. Scheduling description: ->

-> The monument includes the remains of a motte and bailey castle and the buried remains of Offa's dyke. The motte and bailey lie on the north bank of Caebitra Brook which here forms the boundary between England and Wales. It includes a substantial earthen mound, or motte, circular in plan with a base diameter of 33m standing up to 8.5m high. The level circular summit of the mound is 9m in diameter. There is a World War II Home Guard slit trench 0.8m wide cut across the summit of the motte. A well defined dry ditch 8m wide and averaging 2m deep surrounds the base of the motte. The ditch is intact, apart from some slight damage in its north west quarter. The bailey, in which the domestic buildings associated with the castle would have been protected, lies on the south east side of the motte. It is roughly triangular in plan with maximum dimensions of approximately 44m north west to south east by 40m north to south. The bailey is bounded around its south side by a well defined scarp up to 2m high with a buried outer ditch. Around its north east side the original boundary of the bailey is no longer visible but a modern field bank and hedge marks its position. ->

-> The castle lies on the alignment of Offa's Dyke which approaches to within 80m south of the castle and 24m north of the castle. Although it is no longer visible as a surface feature within the area of the scheduling, archaeological evidence relating to the dyke will survive beneath the land surface below and to the west of the motte. ->

-> All modern structures, boundary features and garden furniture within the area of the scheduling are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath is included <8>

Photographed during aerial survey in 2009. <9>

Described briefly in overview article on mottes in the Vale of Montgomery. <10>

This site was visited in May 2020 as part of an assessment of the impact a proposed extension to the N of Brompton Mill, on the edge of the Scheduled Area, within an area that had been postulated as part of the bailey of the castle site. <11>

Sources

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