More information : 6SJ 43310166) Motte & Bailey (NR). (1)
A motte with two rectangular baileys lies close to Wilderley Hall Farm, sole remnant of the medieval hamlet of Wilderley. The motte stands 17ft high, and lies entirely outside the first bailey which has a rampart on all sides except the south. The second bailey lies at a lower level and is defended by a bank with an 8ft scarp on the east. A ditch, continuous with that round the motte, runs along the north side of both baileys. (2-3)
A circular motte standing to the south west of two baileys, is surrounded except to the south, by an almost dry ditch. It stands some 5.0m above the ditch and measures some 16.0m across the flat top. The ditch is 1.8m deep.
The two baileys are almost ploughed out but the first one is represented by a scarp slope on the south side and a vague ragged scarp on the north side. Enough remains to be able to see that the overall size of this bailey was approx 0.42 hectares. The second adjoining bailey is marked by a scarp on all sides except the south and covered approx 0.24 hectares.
There are no traces of a DMV.
Published survey (25") revised. (4)
SJ 433016 Motte 80 yds (70m) SW of Wilderby Hall. Scheduled. (5)
SJ 4336 0170. Motte and bailey castle 150m south west of Wilderley Hall. A well-defined circular motte with a base diameter of 26m and up to 5m high with a flat summit 16m in diameter. There is a surrounding ditch approximately 6m wide and up to 1.8m deep, visible on all but the south-east side. The bailey lies to the immediate north-east of the motte and is 110m north-east to south-west by 80m transversely. It is stepped to form two enclosures which run downhill from the motte. Although the area containing the enclosures has been ploughed, the bailey earthworks are well-defined; the western enclosure, approximately 0.42ha internally is bounded around its south side by a strong scarp slope with an average height of 2m. Around the north side of the enclosure the earthworks can de recognised as a low spread scarp averaging 1.5m high. The east side of this inner enclosure is formed by a scarp averaging 1m high which cuts roughly north-west to south-east, stepping the natural slope. Below this the northern scarp curves around to the south to form the north-eastern side of this outer enclosure before fading out into a modern hedge bank.
Around the south-east quarter the scarp can no longer be recognised on the surface. The internal area of the lower enclosure is estimated at 0.24ha. Scheduled (RSM) No 19198. (5)
Additional reference. (6)
Listed by Cathcart King. (7)
Aerial photographs show that the motte is obscured by trees. Traces of the baileys are visible as slight earthworks and have been mapped by RCHME's Marches Uplands Mapping Project. (8) |