Monument Type(s):

• RIDGE AND FURROW (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• RINGWORK (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

Scheduled Monument: A good example of a ringwork (a nationally rare form of stronghold usually dating to within the late Anglo-Saxon and Norman periods), of particular interest because of its unusual raised form and its proximity to the motte at Wollaston.

Related records: None recorded

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA1256 - 1953 field observation by English Heritage
• ESA1257 - 1971 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA1258 - 1979 field observation by English Heritage
• ESA1259 - 1979 field observation by English Heritage
• ESA1260 - 1979 field observation by English Heritage
• ESA1261 - 1980 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA1262 - 1981 field observation by Shropshire County Council
• ESA1263 - 1986 field observation by Shropshire County Council
• ESA8727 - 2018 Heritage at Risk Survey by Historic England
• ESA8625 - 2014 Heritage at Risk Survey by Historic England
• ESA8621 - 2015 Heritage at Risk Survey by Historic England
• ESA8361 - 2016 Heritage at Risk Survey by Historic England
• ESA8362 - 2017 Heritage at Risk Survey by Historic England
• ESA9067 - 2019 Heritage at Risk Survey by Historic England

Description

Roughly oval earthwork with scarp slope 1.2m high with outer bank 0.4m high on the S and W sides. Position is weak and counterscarp unusual for a ringwork <1><1a>

This earthwork occupies a low natural knoll in wet, low lying ground, close to a stream. Its ovoid form suggest an Iron Age settlement enclosure but the situation does not properly fit this classification and it is more probable that the work is a Medieval ringwork (of which many examples exist nearby) whose form has been determined by the knoll whose top it occupies.
The enclosed area measures 58.0m north-south by 42.0m transversely, and was formerly enclosed by an inner bank of which only traces remain, principally on the north. Beyond a 1.2m high scarp is an outer bank on the west and south sides, 6.0m wide and 0.4m high. A stream flowing down a channel on the east side, and turning around the north end, suggests that formerly the site relied partly upon marshy ground on these sides for defence. The original entrance cannot now be discerned, and there are no signs of occupation within the enclosed area. The site has been much reduced and spread by the plough and is now under pasture.
Published 1:2500 survey, 1973, correct. <1b>

Ploughed 1983 <2><7><8>

Rotovated in winter 1976-7. Disturbance on west side of inner bank- some stones thrown up. Very weak defensive position <5>

A small oval camp originally surrounded by a bank of which a fragment 5ft high remains at the north, the other portion of the area showing a scarp only, the rampart having perished. Around this is a ditch 2ft deep and a smaller, outer bank with an escarpment of 3ft, except where levelled on the north <10a>

A ringwork about 140ft in diameter. Apparently called "Caesar's Camp". <11>

Field drains laid round N & E periphery of site, unlikely to have caused any serious disturbance. <13>

Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, Medium score as one of 20 Ringworks. <21>

Scheduling affirmed in 2001. Scheduling description: ->

-> The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a ringwork occupying a slightly elevated position in an area of gently undulating and formerly marshy land. It is one of a number of early medieval castle sites in this area which controlled the movement of people along the valley between the Breidden hills and Long Mountain. The closest of these castles survive at Wollaston and Bretchel, at a distance of 500m and 1.25km respectively. Both of these castles are the subject of separate schedulings. ->

-> The ringwork north of Lane Farm is a D-shaped enclosure where the internal area has been raised above the level of the surrounding land to form a flat-topped mound, measuring approximately 43m by 58m across the top and 50m by 68m at its base. For the most part the mound stands about lm high, but to the east, where there is a natural depression, its height increases to 1.8m. The mound was surmounted by a bank around its outer edge. This bank is no longer visible as an upstanding earthwork as it has been levelled by successive phases of ploughing since the 19th century. Evidence for it will, however, survive as a buried feature. The mound is defined by a ditch about 4m wide on its western side and up to 10m wide on its eastern side. An outer bank, about 6m wide, on the western and northern western sides provided an additional line of defence. The ditch has mainly been infilled during the cultivation of the area and the external bank has also been spread and reduced in height by ploughing. The remains of these defences will survive as buried features. <22>

Photographed during aerial survey in 2008 and 2009. <23><24><25>

Some remains of a breastwork on the N side. A ditch and an outer bank surround all but the N side. <26>

Photographed during aerial survey in 2021. <27>

The earthwork remains of the ringwork enclosure described by the previous authorities was seen centred at SJ 3243 1203 and mapped from aerial photographs. Immediately to the NE is a single small field of probable Medieval ridge and furrow. <28>

Sources

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