More information : The mound at SP 57505091 seems undoubtedly to be a motte, no doubt a precursor of the early Hall. (1)
SP 57505091. Mound recorded as a barrow or motte. Polygonal form and location in line with NW elevation of Canons Ashby house suggest its more recent use as a garden feature. It may be that there was an earlier mound on this site that has been landscaped. Pevsner notes that OS 1st edition describes the mound as a barrow and erroneously adds that a BA spearhead, collected in the area, was found in the barrow. See RCHME plan. (2)
This site was formerly recorded under SP 55 SE/1. (3)
In December 1992, RCHME's Cambridge office carried out an analytical earthwork survey of the mound following a request from the National Trust. (4)
A large, tree-covered mound approximately 50m in diameter and up to 3m high stands within the parkland of Canons Ashby House (SP 55 SE 18). The summit is uneven, pitted with tree holes but generally flat topped with a prominent raised area on the north east part of the summit. A shallow ditch circles the base.
The size of the mound is equivalent to that of the motte of an
earthwork castle. The outworks of a bailey survive in the form of
broad hollows on the north, south and south-east sides. The south-east ditch has been converted partially into a pond, although it still preserves the angle of the putative defences. The area of the bailey was later colonised by the crofts and fields of the medieval village and the defences were slighted by a rectangular enclosure of probable later medieval date. (see SP 55 SE 1)
The motte was probably adapted as a post-medieval garden feature (2) occupying a prominent position, but off-centre, at the end of a former tree-lined avenue leading from the north-western front of Canons Ashby House. For further details, see RCHME Level 3 client report and plan at 1:2500 scale, held in archive. (4)
Scheduled listing. (5) |