Motte castle adjacent to The Mount cottage

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of time, motte castles continued to be built and occupied from the 11th to the 13th centuries, after which they were superseded by other types of castle.

The motte castle at The Mount cottage survives well and is a good example of its class. It will retain archaeological information relating to the materials and techniques used in its construction and to the date and nature of its occupation. Environmental evidence relating to the landscape in which the monument was built will be preserved sealed on the old land surface beneath the motte and in the ditch fill. Such motte castles provide valuable information concerning the settlement pattern and social organisation of the countryside. The Mount cottage motte is one of a series of small motte castles strategically positioned to control re-entrant valleys on the south side of the main valley pass between Shrewsbury and Montogmery. Considered as a group they contribute important information concerning the management of this important routeway between England and Wales during the medieval period.

Details

The monument includes a small motte castle situated on the northern edge of a small steep sided valley. It includes an earthen mound up to 25m in diameter and 2.5m high positioned on the precipitous edge of the valley to make maximum defensive use of the natural topography, the natural slope forming the south west side of the motte. The flat summit of the motte is circular in plan with a diameter of 16m. A ditch 6m wide and 0.4m deep is visible around the north east quarter of the motte. The ditch has been removed by the excavation of a platform for the construction of a cottage and outbuildings around the south east quarter and would never have existed around the west, where the valley slopes provide sufficient defence. The cottage and outbuildings which lie adjacent to the monument are not included within the scheduling, their platform being cut through the ditch.

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:

19195

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry