Ringwork 400m NNW of Batworthpark House

Reasons for Designation

Ringworks are medieval fortifications built and occupied from the late Anglo-Saxon period to the later 12th century. They comprised a small defended area containing buildings which was surrounded or partly surrounded by a substantial ditch and a bank surmounted by a timber palisade or, rarely, a stone wall. Occasionally a more lightly defended embanked enclosure, the bailey, adjoined the ringwork. Ringworks acted as strongholds for military operations and in some cases as defended aristocratic or manorial settlements. They are rare nationally with only 200 recorded examples and less than 60 with baileys. As such, and as one of a limited number and very restricted range of Anglo-Saxon and Norman fortifications, ringworks are of particular significance to our understanding of the period.

The example near Batworthpark House survives comparatively well despite having been damaged for part of its circuit. It therefore retains considerable archaeological potential for the recovery of dating evidence, of evidence of structures in the interior and of evidence sealed beneath its banks of the land use prior to its construction.

Details

The monument includes the ditch, bank and interior area of a circular earthwork situated just above the floodplain of the River Arun. The earthwork, which has an internal diameter of some 32m, survives best for a length of 60m on the north and east sides, where the bank is 8m wide and rises to 1.5m above the level of the interior. The bank is breached by an original entrance some 3m wide. Elsewhere it is still clearly visible, although often standing only 0.4m high, despite having been pushed both outwards into the surrounding ditch and inwards into the interior. The surrounding ditch is also best preserved on the north side, where its outer edge is marked by the curving field boundary. Here the ditch is 6m wide and some 2m deep, creating a total drop from bank top to ditch bottom of 3.5m to form an impressive barrier. Even on the south and south-east sides, where it has been largely infilled using earth from the bank, the ditch survives to a depth of 0.3m. The earthwork has been identified as a short-lived ringwork of the very early Norman period, dating from the period immediately after the Conquest and before the foundation of the nearby castle at Arundel in 1069/70. It is only coincidentally linked with the later chalk or flint quarry on the south side.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

12858

Legacy System:

RSM

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