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This site is designated as being of national importance and is afforded additional protection. Consult West Berkshire Council's Archaeology team if more information or advice is needed.

Summary

Scheduled Monument 19011 (3/9/92) SUBSTANTIAL BUT UNFINISHED MOTTE. OVERALL DIAM. 60M, 7M HIGH FROM BASE OF DITCH. WEST SIDE MOST COMPLETE, EAST HALF DEFINED BY LOW BANK DERIVED FROM THE MARKING OUT DITCH. PROBABLY CONSTRUCTED AS A SIEGE WORK.

Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1007925: MOTTE IN HAMSTEAD MARSHALL PARK, 340M NE OF THE DOWER HOUSE
• Registered Park or Garden (II) 1000525: Hamstead Marshall Park

Other Statuses and Cross-References

• Berkshire SMR No. (pre 2000): 01045.00.000
  
• National Monuments Record No.: SU 46 NW 2
  SU 4298 6661
• Old Scheduled Ancient Monument (Berkshire): BK 10
  

Monument Type(s):

• MOTTE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• SIEGEWORK? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Full Description

<01> The remains of a substantial motte on a gravel-capped spur overlooking the Kennet valley. The motte, which appears to be an unfinished work, is horseshoe shaped in plan and has an overall diameter of 60m. It stands upto 7m high above the bottom of the surrounding ditch, which is also incomplete; the form of the mound suggests that the site was abandoned during construction. The mound is most complete on its western side, facing the two mottes 800m to the west (WB1541 and WB1542).

This motte and the two others nearby were categorised in Victorian times as tumuli <02>, based on earlier sources; this is perhaps surprising because Aubrey in the 17th century noted "by Hamstead Marshall in Berkshire (a seat of the Earl of Craven) is a hill like Silbury Hill, on which Captain W Winde designs to make a screw-walk, as at the keep of the Castle at Marlborough", and "Captain Wynd farther tells me that there is a hill called Castle Hill near/within a mile of Hamstead Marshall, greater than that before mentioned (Marlborough), and there is also another mount near, but not so great" <03>. In 1930 their true character was reestablished by Myres and Williams <04> and subsequently Grinsell <05>.

Following survey work by RCHME, a discussion of the reason for the presence of three castles close to each other suggested three explanations <06>. Firstly that they were the product of separate ownership; but this can hardly apply when two mottes are only a hundred metres apart (MWB1542 and MWB1543). Secondly that one was a siegework; again the proximity and structure of the two westerly mottes makes this unlikely here. However, the unfinished easternmost castle (MWB1549) occupies a strong natural site away from the manor, and faces the other two: it could well be an incomplete siegework. The third possibility, that the location of the castles moved over time, is plausible for the westernmost motte (MWB1543) which is larger and more heavily defended than its close neighbour, and could have superseded it.

The date for the construction of these monuments is hard to ascertain from documentary sources. Myres found a gap between 1233 and 1241 when some destruction or rebuilding could have occurred. However, earthwork castles would have been outmoded by the 13th century, most being built in the hundred years after the Norman Conquest, with a peak during the reign of Stephen (1135-54).

A more recent theory <07> about this motte and the other two at Hamstead Marshall derives from a study of the lack of evidence tying Newbury Castle to a supposed location by the wharf in that town <08>. It has been suggested that in fact the castle "at Newbury", besieged during 1152-3 and described in an epic poem on the life of William the Marshall <09> could be the smaller of the two mottes close to the church (MWB1542). The site might have been referred to in this way because Newbury was larger and better known than the village of Hamstead Marshall.

The motte was also recorded by the Berkshire National Mapping Programme <16>, seen as earthworks in unreference air photographs. It was described as an incomplete oval enclosure measuring 70m by 60m, defined by one ditch and centred at SU 4299 6661.

Sources and further reading

Related Monuments

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

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