Kemeys Inferior Motte (also documented as Kemys Motte, Gipsies Mount and Gipsies Tump) is the remains of a motte-and-bailey castle or ringwork structure located at the north of the parish of Kemeys Inferior, Newport, Wales. It has been a scheduled monument since 1931.
The bedrock of the site is marl, below a sandstone ridge, [1] at an elevation of 30 metres (location:51.64092, -2.88351). [2] It is positioned towards the lower part of the steep valley slope below Kemeys (or Kemys) Graig, which runs southwest to northeast overlooking the site and River Usk below it to the west. The old Caerleon to Usk road cuts through the very eastern side of the site and the A449 passes about 70 metres further east. [3]
The earthwork is a motte-and-bailey castle built during the mediaeval period, consisting of a roughly-rectangular enclosure, 26 metres northwest-to-southeast by 18 metres. The mound is at the northeast of the enclosure, right by the road which follows a historical defensive ditch. The site appears to have been reduced in size by landslips on the sharply-dropping western side. The circular motte is steep, approximately 3 metres high and 7 metres in diameter. One source considers the motte as the remains of a late cutting through a partial and damaged ringwork, i.e. not defensive and with an unclear purpose. [3] South of it is an approximately 2.5-metre-high bank which ends just before the edge of the slope, possibly indicating the entrance. There is a ditch on the south side of the slope approximately 2 metres wide and deep. [3] [4]
It has been interpreted as possibly having had a military tenant related to the Kemeys Manor, further south. Much of the extant earthworks are overgrown with trees and bushes. 12th-13th-century pottery has been discovered at the location. [3] [4] [5]
High Bradfield is a rural village 6.5 miles (10 km) north-west of the centre of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England and within the city's boundaries. The village lies just within the Peak District National Park, 1.3 miles (2 km) inside the park's north-eastern border, is at an altitude of 260 metres (850 feet) AOD, and has extensive views across Bradfield Dale towards Derwent Edge and the Dark Peak.
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.
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Castle Knob is the motte of Castle Gresley, a ruined motte and bailey castle in Derbyshire, England. The date of construction is not known but may have been in the mid-12th century Anarchy era. The site was long under the ownership of the de Gresley family. The castle survives as earthworks including a 4-metre (13 ft) high motte and three baileys, the largest measuring 70 metres (230 ft) across. The site had been abandoned by the 16th century and, in the mid-20th century, the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) installed a nuclear warfare monitoring post in the central bailey. The site became a scheduled monument in 1966.
Kemeys Inferior is a rural parish and hamlet of Newport, Wales, formerly part of the old county of Monmouthshire. It was the home of the Kemeys family from the Middle Ages until the 19th century. The parish contains a number of scheduled ancient monuments dating back to the Iron Age and listed buildings.
