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The West Berkshire Historic Environment Record (HER) is the primary index of the physical remains of past human activity in the unitary authority of West Berkshire Council. Limited elements of the West Berkshire HER are available online via the Heritage Gateway, therefore it is not suitable for use in desk-based studies associated with development, planning and land-use changes, and does not meet the requirements of paragraph 194 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2021: 56). Please read the important guidance on the use of the West Berkshire HER data. For these purposes and all other commercial enquiries, please contact the Archaeology team and complete our online HER enquiry form.


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.



HER Number MWB1549
Record Type Monument
Name Motte in Hamstead Marshall Park, 340m northeast of the Dower House

Grid Reference SU 429 666
Map Sheet SU46NW
Parish Hamstead Marshall, West Berkshire
Map:Show location on Streetmap

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

The remains of a substantial motte on a gravel-capped spur overlooking the Kennet valley <1>. 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 <2>, 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" <3>. In 1930 their true character was reestablished by Myres and Williams <4> and subsequently Grinsell <5>.

Following survey work by RCHME, a discussion of the reason for the presence of three castles close to each other suggested three explanations <6>. 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 <7> 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 <8>. 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 <9> 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

<00>Historic England (previously English Heritage). 1987. Register of Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England. Hamstead Marshall Park. [Unpublished document / SWB12616]
<01>Historic England (previously English Heritage). Schedule of Monuments. [Unpublished document / SWB12738]
<02>Page and Ditchfield (eds). 1924. Victoria County History (VCH) Berks IV 1924. Vol 4. p179. [Monograph / SWB10281]
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4 (Accessed 24/09/2015)
<03>Aubrey, J. late 1600's. Monumenta Britannica Part 3. Vol iii Fol 10. [Article in serial / SWB13092]
<04>Newbury District Field Club. 1932. TRANS NEWBURY DISTRICT FIELD CLUB 1932 VOL 6 NO 3. p114-126 Three unrecognised castle mounds at Hamstead Marshall by J N L Myres. [Article in serial / SWB6934]
<05>Berkshire Archaeological Society. 1936. Berkshire Archaeological Journal 1936 40. 40. In ADS Journals. 10.5284/1000017. P56 in An Analysis and List of Berkshire Barrows Part I Addenda by LV Grinsell. [Article in serial / SWB10457]
http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/berks_bas_2007/journal.cfm?volume=40 (Accessed 26/04/2016)
<06>Bowden, Mark, Mackay, D & Topping, P. 1989. Earthwork castles and settlement at Hamstead Marshall, Berkshire. [Article in monograph / SWB12812]
<07>Newbury District Field Club. 1998. TRANS NEWBURY DISTRICT FIELD CLUB 1998 VOL 14 NO 2/3. p28-9 Is Newbury's Medieval Castle at Hamstead Marshall? by Tony Higgott. [Article in serial / SWB12918]
<08>Cannon, P. 1990. Newbury Castle - a Reassessment of the Historical Evidence. [Unpublished document / SWB12757]
<09>Crouch, David. 1990. William Marshall, Court, Career and Chivalry in the Angevin Empire 1147-1219. [Monograph / SWB13621]
<10>Andrews Downman, Rev Edward. 1901. Ancient Earthworks surveyed and drawn by Rev Edward Andrews Downman. [Unpublished document / SWB12877]
<11>Archaeology Branch of Ordnance Survey & Newbury Museum staff. 1913 onwards. Newbury Museum Archaeology Map XLII NE.. 42NE. 6 inch. Annotated on map 'Three Castle Mounds' H H Coghlan. [Map / SWB11441]
<12>Babtie. 1995. Hamstead Park Historic Tree Survey and Management Plan. [Unpublished document / SWB146846]
<13>Taunt, H W. 1860-1922. Hamstead Marshall Castle, Newbury, Berkshire. Not aerial photo. [Photograph / SWB147043]
<14>Ordnance Survey. 1960s-70s. Ordnance Survey Field Investigators Comments. F1 GHP 20-MAY-64. [Personal observation / SWB14640]
<15>Cathcart King, D J. 1983. Castellarium Anglicanum: an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands. Vol 1, p11. [Monograph / SWB147232]
<16>RCHME. 1995-1999. Berkshire - National Mapping Programme. Carolyn Dyer/27-NOV-1996/RCHME: Berkshire NMP. [Unpublished document / SWB146801]
https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/NMP/ (Accessed on 14/01/2022)

Related Monuments

MWB3332HAMSTEAD PARK - General record (Landscape)
MWB1542HAMSTEAD MARSHALL MOTTE - 1 OF 2 (Monument)
MWB1543HAMSTEAD MARSHALL MOTTE - 2 OF 2 (Monument)

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

EWB422Survey of earthworks at Hamstead Marshall
EWB885Berkshire - National Mapping Programme (NMP) (Ref: 1064614)
EWB912Hamstead Park Historic Tree Survey and Management Plan
EWB1677Hamstead Park Revised Parkland Plan