Reasons for Designation
Motte castles are medieval fortifications introduced into Britain by the
Normans. They comprised a large conical mound of earth or rubble, the motte,
surmounted by a palisade and a stone or timber tower. In a majority of
examples an embanked enclosure containing additional buildings, the bailey,
adjoined the motte. Motte castles and motte-and-bai1ey castles acted as
garrison forts during offensive military operations, as strongholds, and, in
many cases, as aristocratic residences and as centres of local or royal
administration. Built in towns, villages and open countryside, motte castles
generally occupied strategic positions dominating their immediate locality
and, as a result, are the most visually impressive monuments of the early
post-Conquest period surviving in the modern landscape. Over 600 motte castles
and motte-and-bailey castles are recorded nationally, with examples known from
most regions. Some 100-150 examples do not have baileys and are classified as
motte castles. As one of a restricted range of recognised early post-Conquest
monuments, they are particularly important for the study of Norman Britain and
the development of the feudal system. Although many were occupied for only a
short period of time, motte castles continued to be built and occupied from
the 11th to the 13th centuries, after which they were superseded by other
types of castle.
Giant's Hill is associated with the remains of part of a medieval settlement
and earthworks representing its arable fields. Such settlements and fields
were a significant component of the rural landscape in medieval England and
provide important information on the diversity of medieval settlement patterns
and farming economy between regions and through time.
Although the top of the motte was partially altered by small-scale activity
during the Second World War, the discovery of fragments of early masonry
confirmed that the top of the motte retains medieval building foundations.
The waterlogged ditches also contain deposits which are likely to include
evidence for the medieval environment and farming economy of the adjacent
area. The castle is known to have been abandoned during construction and
further investigation will enable a greater understanding of the building
techniques employed for such fortifications. The associated village and
ridge-and-furrow earthworks are partially overlain by the castle earthworks,
favouring the preservation of archaeological remains and of a buried
landsurface from which further environmental evidence may be obtained.
Details
The monument includes a motte castle which overlies part of an earlier
medieval settlement with associated field system. The motte is known as
Giant's Hill and the monument is situated immediately to the east of Rampton
churchyard and lies on the Ampthill Clay at the western edge of Little North
Fen.
The castle, located at the south-eastern corner of the monument, is of unusual
form, the work of its construction apparently having been abandoned before
completion. The motte is a roughly rectangular, flat-topped island, about
1.5m higher than the adjacent fields, measuring 50m by 45m across and
surrounded by a ditch up to 40m wide by 2m deep. Standing water is present in
the bottom of the ditch which is drained by a leat connected to a modern field
drain at the north-eastern corner. Access to the motte is gained via a ramped
causeway across the south-western corner of the ditch; the upper edge of the
ditch is splayed at this point so that there is also a ramp giving access to
the bottom of the western arm. On the northern arm of the ditch there is an
outer bank which has an uneven appearance and is 20m wide by up to 2m high.
During the Second World War the castle was utilised as a gun emplacement by
the Home Guard and a one metre diameter concrete pier was set into the top of
the motte near the south-western corner. A ditch 1m wide by 0.5m deep
surrounds the emplacement; brick and stone foundations of buildings dating
back at least to the 15th century were observed while this was being dug.
The motte at Rampton has been compared with that at Burwell the latter has an
important historical association as the place where Geoffrey de Mandeville was
killed as he besieged the castle in 1144. Investigations at Burwell have
shown it to be an unfinished castle and many diagnostic features, such as
irregularly shaped banks of earth and an entrance ramp, are paralleled at
Rampton. Rampton, like Burwell, is thought to have been under construction
during the attempt by King Stephen to contain de Mandeville's revolt. With
the death of the rebel leader the castles became obsolete.
The castle is thought to have been built over the eastern end of the medieval
settlement at Rampton. At least two embanked enclosures remain to the north
of the castle and, although their southern ends lie buried beneath the outer
bank of the castle, they measure 24m and 15m east-west and at least 20m
north-south. The enclosures are defined by banks 4m wide and 0.5m high. A
third enclosure, 40m by 30m in size and bounded by a slight ditch, lies
outside the north-western corner of the castle. To the west of the castle are
three larger rectangular enclosures, also bounded by ditches, which are
thought to be small individual landholdings, or crofts. The southern
boundaries of these crofts were lost when the modern road, Church End, was
laid out in 1852 but the largest enclosure still measures over 70m by 50m and,
although no traces of buildings are visible as surface features, the
foundations of structures within the enclosures are thought to survive below
ground. Along the northern end of the crofts is the headland of an area of
ridge-and-furrow which served as a trackway running east from the church. It
is thought that the trackway originally ran beneath the castle but was blocked
when the fortification was built; the eastern part of the track was then taken
into the easternmost croft and a small, 30m by 15m, oval enclosure was
created. A bank, 70m long by 10m wide and about 0.5m high, was thrown up to
the north of the line of the track, probably to dispose of spoil from the
levelling of the track and associated ditch digging.
An area of ridge-and-furrow to the north of the trackway is a surviving part
of the medieval open fields which once lay around the settlememt. The ridges
are about 0.3m in height by 8m wide and up to 160m long; they run north-south
with a headland at each end. The southern headland served as a trackway
associated with the medieval settlement. Part of the southern side was
encroached upon when the trackway was taken into the crofts and the bank was
constructed.
All fences, the wooden walkway leading to the motte and the information board
are all excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath all these features
is included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
