Record Details
| MonUID: | MST39 |
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| HER Number: | 00039 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Castle Mound, Huntley, Cheadle |
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Summary
A (formerly scheduled) flat topped, earthwork mound once identified as a medieval motte, but now thought to be of possible natural origin.
Monument Type(s):
Full description
Natural sand flat topped circular mound, formerly described and scheduled as a medieval motte. Two sections cleaned and no archaeological features. Descheduled. <1>
Not listed by L.M. Cantor in his publication on the 'Medieval Castles of Staffordshire'. <2>
The earthwork is not mentioned by Robert Plot (1686), but 'an ancient fortification' is shown on the map which is bound up with Plot's 'History of Staffordshire'. The field adjoining the mound is shown as 'Castle Croft', by which name it was still known in the 1860s. <3>
The North Staffordshire Field Club visited the site in 1915 (when the earthwork had been newly discovered). The mound stood at the highest point of the Huntley Hall estate. No stones had been found on the site and thus it was proposed that it was a Norman motte upon which had stood a timber building. <4>
This is a good specimen of an earthwork of the mound and bailey type, flat-topped and roughly circular. Until recently it stood within the grounds of Huntley Hall which is now demolished, There is little in the way of historical reference but the site was probably occupied by the Basset family who held the manor of Cheadle from 1176 onwards.
Plot's map of Staffordshire (1686) marks the site as "ancient fortification". An 1833 terrier of the property describes it as "Castle Cop" and the field adjoining is "Castle Croft". <5> <6>
During a site visit by the Ordnance Survey field inspector in 1957 the site of the mound was confirmed as well known to the farmer, however it had been used as a dumping ground for gravel and waste materials from the nearby quarries with the result that the mound is completely buried beneath the dump. The farmer also stated that a brick culvert had been built into one side of the mound before its burial. No identifiable trace of the mound is visible, although the placename Castle Croft may indicate a motte. (DAT, 23/05/2012) <7>
Sources and further reading
| <1> | SST3044 - Verbal communication: R.A. Meeson (Staffordshire County Council). 1980 - 2000. Comments on sites in Staffordshire by R.A. Meeson. 1984. |
| <2> | SST2107 - Serial: University of Keele. 1966. North Staffordshire Journal of Field Studies volume 6 (1966). 'The Medieval Castles of Staffordshire' by L.M. Cantor. |
| <3> | SST390 - Index: Ordnance Survey. See cards. Ordnance Survey Card Index. SK 04 SW - 3 (Collections for a History of Staffordshire' 1926, page 153 (by C.G.O. Bridgeman). |
| <4> | SST390 - Index: Ordnance Survey. See cards. Ordnance Survey Card Index. SK 04 SW - 3 (Transactions of the North Staffs Field Club' Vol.50 (1915-16), p158-9 by A. Huntbach). |
| <5> | SST3723 - Designation Record: Department for Culture Media and Sport / English Heritage. Ongoing-2016. Scheduled Monument Designation Documents, Scheduled Monument Consents and Section 17 Management Agreements. O.W. 819, 11-May-1933. |
| <6> | SST529 - Published Book: Robert Plot. 1686. The Natural History of Staffordshire. |
| <7> | SST390 - Index: Ordnance Survey. See cards. Ordnance Survey Card Index. SK 04 SW - 3 (W. Woodhouse - Ordnance Survey Field Inspector - 28/11/1957). |
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