A motte-and-bailey fortress was built in the 12th century. Only the earthworks now remain.[2] The precise date as to when the castle was built is unknown. However, it was most probably built in the 11th or the early 12th century. The ground plan of the castle is in the shape of a parallelogram, which houses two courts, one of which is square in form.[3] The motte most probably had a wooden tower and a palisade. The castle had two rectangular baileys, an inner bailey and an outer bailey, with the smaller outer bailey used for livestock. The moat of the castle would have been fed from the nearby stream.[1]
At some stage the fort went out of use and was replaced by a manorial site which later became Saucer Farm. The earth works surrounding the baileys were modified to form fishponds, fed by the stream that had filled the moat. Additional channels were dug and sluice gates controlled the water flow. Later, formal gardens were laid out around the ponds and the motte served as an elevated viewing platform.[1]
The motte, which today stands 16 feet high, is now called Cranmer's Mound or Cranmer's mount after Thomas Cranmer, who was born here in 1489, and rose to become Archbishop of Canterbury. According to local accounts, he used to sit on the high mound during his early youth to listen to the tuneable bells of the nearby church of Whatton-in-the-Vale. Previously the locals had named the mound Bailey Hills.[4][5] To the south east two rectangular platforms enclosed by ditches are the sites of later houses of the Cranmer family.[6]
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to build with unskilled labour, but still militarily formidable, these castles were built across northern Europe from the 10th century onwards, spreading from Normandy and Anjou in France, into the Holy Roman Empire, as well as the Low Countries it controlled, in the 11th century, when these castles were popularized in the area that became the Netherlands. The Normans introduced the design into England and Wales. Motte-and-bailey castles were adopted in Scotland, Ireland, and Denmark in the 12th and 13th centuries. By the end of the 13th century, the design was largely superseded by alternative forms of fortification, but the earthworks remain a prominent feature in many countries.
Aslockton is an English village and civil parish 12 miles (19 km) east of Nottingham and 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Bingham, on the north bank of the River Smite opposite Whatton-in-the-Vale. The parish is also adjacent to Scarrington, Thoroton and Orston and within the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire. The population was recorded as 974 in the 2011 census, doubling to 1,937 at the 2021 census.
Bury Mount Motte is the remains of an earthwork motte and bailey fortification or ancient castle in Towcester in Northamptonshire, and has been designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The Motte probably dates back to the 11th century when it was a Norman fortification, but over time it has been subject to neglect.
Bakewell Castle was in the town of Bakewell, Derbyshire.
Beaudesert Castle was on a high mound overlooking the village of Beaudesert to the east of Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire. It is a scheduled ancient monument.
Deddington Castle is an extensive earthwork in the village of Deddington, Oxfordshire, all that remains of an 11th-century motte-and-bailey castle, with only the earth ramparts and mound now visible.
Eaton Socon Castle was a Norman fortification. It was constructed next to the River Great Ouse in what is now Eaton Socon, Cambridgeshire, England.
Haughley Castle was a medieval castle situated in the village of Haughley, some 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north-west of the town of Stowmarket, Suffolk. Prominent historians such as J. Wall consider it "the most perfect earthwork of this type in the county," whilst R. Allen Brown has described it as "one of the most important" castle sites in East Anglia.
In archaeology, earthworks are artificial changes in land level, typically made from piles of artificially placed or sculpted rocks and soil. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features, or they can show features beneath the surface.
Thetford Castle is a medieval motte and bailey castle in the market town of Thetford in the Breckland area of Norfolk, England. The first castle in Thetford, a probable 11th-century Norman ringwork called Red Castle, was replaced in the 12th century by a much larger motte and bailey castle on the other side of the town. This new castle was largely destroyed in 1173 by Henry II, although the huge motte, the second largest man-made mound in England, remained intact. The motte, recognised as a scheduled monument, now forms part of a local park, and the remains are known variously as Castle Hill, Castle Mound and Military Parade.
While there are many castles in South Yorkshire, the majority are manor houses and motte-and-bailey which were commonly found in England after the Norman Conquest.
Wakefield Castle, Lowe Hill or Lawe Hill was a castle built in the 12th century on a hill on the north side of the River Calder near Wakefield, England. Its name derives from the Anglo Saxon hlaew meaning a mound or cairn, possibly a burial mound or barrow. The mound, situated a quarter mile from the river, was separated from the town by flat swampy land and was seen as a good site for a fortification.
Pen y Clawdd Castle is a ditched mound with a double moat, roughly circular in shape, with a diameter of approximately 28m to 30m and about 2.4m high. The castle is in Llanvihangel Crucorney, about five miles to the north of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, in south east Wales and lies between the Usk and Monnow rivers. The mound was designated a scheduled monument in 1950 and described as a defensive medieval motte.
Woodwalton Castle was a small motte and bailey castle at Church End, the northern end of the parish of Woodwalton, Huntingdonshire. Located on a natural hillock, the earthworks of the castle still remain, with an outer moat enclosing a circular bailey with a central motte. A large dyke, apparently ancient, runs from the outer moat in a north-easterly direction. The site is a scheduled monument.
Berkhamsted Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey castle in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. The castle was built to obtain control of a key route between London and the Midlands during the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century. Robert of Mortain, William the Conqueror's half brother, was probably responsible for managing its construction, after which he became the castle's owner. The castle was surrounded by protective earthworks and a deer park for hunting. The castle became a new administrative centre of the former Anglo-Saxon settlement of Berkhamsted. Subsequent kings granted the castle to their chancellors. The castle was substantially expanded in the mid-12th century, probably by Thomas Becket.
Waytemore Castle is a ruined castle in the town of Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire, England. The remains are a Grade I listed structure.
Down End Castle, also known as Downend Castle, Chisley Mount or Chidley Mount, was a motte-and-bailey castle at Down End, north of Dunball in the parish of Puriton, Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
The Chateau des Marais is a protected chateau in Saint Sampson, Guernsey. The colloquial name is Ivy Castle. A moated medieval castle dating from before the 12th-century.
Pinxton Castle, Derbyshire, is a scheduled monument in Castle Wood that straddles Pinxton and South Normanton. In its designation as a scheduled monument, Historic England describes it as having been a motte and fortified manor, with a moated site and five fishponds. Unlike most of the approximately 6000 moated sites in England, a large, fortified enclosure surrounded the moat.
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