Toddington Castle | |
---|---|
Toddington, Bedfordshire, England | |
Coordinates | 51°56′59″N0°31′48″W / 51.9496°N 0.5299°W Coordinates: 51°56′59″N0°31′48″W / 51.9496°N 0.5299°W |
Grid reference | grid reference TL0113128916 |
Type | Motte-and-bailey |
Height | 18ft |
Site information | |
Condition | Earthworks |
Site history | |
Built | 13th Century |
Materials | Earth |
Toddington Castle, today known as "Conger Hill Motte", is an artificial earthen mound located in the village of Toddington, in the county of Bedfordshire, England.
It was a motte-and-bailey castle, made first of timber and later of stone, that dates from prior to the 13th century when it was listed as the stronghold of Sir Paulinus Pegure (Paul Pever), who leased it from Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk. [1] The name Conger Hill is recorded from 1597 and it has been considered that the name may be a corruption of an earlier Celtic British name. The mound was used in the 16th century as a rabbit warren. [2]
The site is a Scheduled Monument, classified as a medieval motte. Only earthworks, which rise 18 ft above the present bottom of the moat and have a flat top 92 ft in diameter without trace of a rampart, remain. [2]
For about 150 years, every Shrove Tuesday at Toddington, the 'pancake bell' was rung in the church to remind the women to make their pancakes. On hearing the bell, school children would then run to Conger Hill, put their ears to the ground and, supposedly, listen to the sizzling sound of the 'old woman' frying her pancakes. [3] The last outing of this kind ceased in the early 1970s, perhaps due to the Church's reluctance to be associated with witchcraft, but the tradition was revived in 2012. [1]
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 in the 11th century. The Normans introduced the design into England and Wales. Motte-and-bailey castles were adopted in Scotland, Ireland, the Low Countries and Denmark in the 12th and 13th centuries. Windsor Castle, in England, is an example of a motte-and-bailey castle. 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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Toddington is a large village and civil parish in the county of Bedfordshire, England. It is situated 5 miles north-north-west of Luton, 4 miles (6 km) north of Dunstable, 6 miles (10 km) south-west of Woburn, and 35 miles north-north-west of London on the B5120 and B579. It is 0.5 miles from Junction 12 of the M1 motorway and lends its name to the nearby motorway service station. The hamlet of Fancott also forms part of the Toddington civil parish.
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Skipsea Castle was a Norman motte and bailey castle near the village of Skipsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Built around 1086 by Drogo de la Beuvrière, apparently on the remains of an Iron Age mound, it was designed to secure the newly conquered region, defend against any potential Danish invasion and control the trade route across the region leading to the North Sea. The motte and the bailey were separated by Skipsea Mere, an artificial lake that was linked to the sea during the medieval period via a navigable channel. The village of Skipsea grew up beside the castle church, and the fortified town of Skipsea Brough was built alongside the castle around 1160 to capitalise on the potential trade.
Hough-on-the-Hill is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish including Brandon was 399 at the 2011 census. It is situated approximately 7 miles (11 km) due north from the market town of Grantham. The hamlets of Gelston and Brandon are part of the parish. Hough-on-the-Hill is on a significant rise, hence the name.
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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.
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A moot hill or mons placiti is a hill or mound historically used as an assembly or meeting place, as a moot hall is a meeting or assembly building, also traditionally to decide local issues. In early medieval Britain, such hills were used for "moots", meetings of local people to settle local business. Among other things, proclamations might be read; decisions might be taken; court cases might be settled at a moot. Although some moot hills were naturally occurring features or had been created long before as burial mounds, others were purpose-built.
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Stowting is a village and civil parish in the English county of Kent. It is 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Ashford, 7 miles (11 km) north-west of Folkestone and 10 miles (16 km) south of Canterbury.
Cymbeline's Castle, also known as Cymbeline's Mound and Belinus's Castle, is the remains of a motte-and-bailey castle in woods north-east of Great Kimble in Buckinghamshire, England. It is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
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Whittington Tump or Crookbarrow Hill is a partly artificial mound in central Worcestershire, England. There is evidence of prehistoric activity at the site and may have been used as a religious site or burial mound. A Romano-British settlement was established nearby in the early 2nd century AD but was apparently abandoned by the 4th century. An Anglo-Saxon enclosure was established on Whittington Tump by the 7th century and during the mediaeval period it is thought to have been the site of a motte castle. Crookbarrow Manor was established at the foot of the hill by 1314 and the site, including the former motte, was given over to agricultural use. The site was listed as a scheduled monument in 1923 and is a landmark for motorists on the nearby M5 motorway.