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Summary

Scheduled Monument 1007928 is a substantial earthen mound.

Monument Type(s):

• BARROW? (Bronze Age - 2500 BC to 701 BC)
• BARROW? (Saxon - 432 AD to 560 AD) + Sci.Date
• MOTTE? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Description

Scheduled Monument (previously 19015 and SM 147) is a substantial earthen mound. Though the original form of the mound is somewhat obscured by later modification, it has the appearance of a small motte, possibly constructed to control a fording point. It is roughly circular in shape with a 28m and remains up to 6m high around the best preserved north-western half. The south-eastern part of the mound is less well preserved, having the appearance of being unfinished. In this area it rises as a series of three low scarps to a total height of 3.7m. The flat summit of the mound has the dimensions of 7m north to south by 4m east to west. The site has historical associations with Eton College as the focus of the Montem celebration, which was observed triennially between the years 1561 and 1846 <14>. The scrub covered mound has been confused by dumping, scarping and superficial mutilation.

A borehole survey carried out in 2016 by researchers from the University of Reading recovered material from the buried land surface below the mound which was radio carbon dated. The three dates obtained showed that the mound was probably constructed in the early Anglo Saxon period, sometime after cal. AD 432-560 (95% confidence). The monument is therefore unlikely to be a Norman motte castle or a prehistoric burial mound. It seems probable that Montem Mound was a Saxon high status burial mound, analogous with the nearby Taplow Mound <15>.

<1> English Heritage, 1992, Schedule Entry Copy: Montem Mound: a motte at Salt Hill, Upton-cum Chalvey (Scheduling record). SRM12890.

<2> BUCKS COUNTY MUSEUM SMR NO 0546 (Bibliographic reference). SSL4890.

<3> 1912, RCHM 1912 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 1, Page 301 (Bibliographic reference). SSL4891.

<4> Cust L, 1899, History of Eton College, Pages 189-93 (Bibliographic reference). SSL4892.

<5> Malim, 1561, CONSUETUDINAIRIUM (Bibliographic reference). SSL4893.

<6> HC Maxwell Lyte, 1889, History of Eton College, Pages 450-471 (Bibliographic reference). SSL4894.

<7> Sheahan W, 1862, A History and Topography of Buckinghamshire, Page 862 (Bibliographic reference). SSL4895.

<8> Lipscombe, George, 1847, History of Buckinghamshire 4, Pages 465-466 (Bibliographic reference). SSL4896.

<9> Head JF, 1955, Early Man in South Buckinghamshire (Bibliographic reference). SSL4898.

<10> Sharpe, M, 1932, Middlesex in British, Roman and Saxon Times, Pages 80 and 109 (Bibliographic reference). SSL4899.

<11> Tighe R R and Davis JE, 1858, Annals of Windsor (Bibliographic reference). SSL4900.

<12> Denington R F, 1966, The Middle Thames in Antiquity, Page 55 (Bibliographic reference). SSL4901.

<13> 1923, Victoria County History Berkshire, Page 226 (Bibliographic reference). SWK6192.

<14> Historic England, The National Heritage List for England, List entry number: 1007928 (Index). SRD12029.

<15> University of Reading, Undated, Extending Histories: from Medieval Mottes to Prehistoric Round Mounds. Montem mound, Slough (Unpublished document). SRM15521.

<16> Thames Valley Archaeological Services, 1989, Green Triangle Slough - An Archaeological Assessment (Unpublished document). SSL12602.

<17> Unknown, 1987, Montem Mound. Contour surveys (Graphic material). SRM15978.

<18> M D Scarr, 1989, St. Martins Chapel: Bath Road/Montem Lane - site of - notes to maps (Unpublished document). SRM15979.

<19> Unknown, 1985, Montem Mound, Slough (Photograph). SRM15980.

<20> CgMs Consulting, 2016, Ice Arena, Montem Lane, Slough, Berkshire - Heritage Statement, Figs 3-18, Appendices 3-8 (Unpublished document). SRM15250.

<21> Michael Bayley, 1987, Farms and field names around Slough in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with earlier names where known (Map). SRM15981.

Sources

Designations

• Scheduled Monument 1007928: Montem Mound: a motte at Salt Hill, Upton-cum Chalvey

Associated Events:

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds:

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