The Mount, Barrow Green

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of time, motte castles continued to be built and occupied from the 11th to the 13th centuries, after which they were superseded by other types of castle.

Despite the remodelling of the motte which appears to have taken place in the post-medieval period, the summit of the Mount survives and it is here that the most important of the archaeological remains are considered likely to survive.

Details

The Mount has been interpreted in the past as a burial mound but more recent observers have identified it as a Norman motte castle. The monument includes the whole of the steep-sided mound, which has a diameter of some 60m and stands 9m above the level of the surrounding land. The small, flat top is likely to have provided the site for a single building or tower and a palisade fence may have bounded this area. The motte is unusual in appearing not to have been surrounded by a ditch. Little is known of the history of the monument. The local name of Barrow Green may indicate a folk tradition that the site was a burial mound, but equally it might refer to the nearby rabbit-infested woods known as Coney Burrow. The nearby Barrow Green Court was built or rebuilt in the early 17th century, at which time the Mount may have been altered to provide views of the associated gardens as was fashionable at the time - a map of 1762 shows the Mount to have been at the end of a long avenue of trees.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

12780

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L, Barrows of Surrey, (1934)
Malden, H E, The Victoria History of the County of Surrey, (1912)

Other
Surrey Antiquity 1246,

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.