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.
Details
The monument includes the remains of a small ringwork castle situated on the
summit of Warfield Bank, a small isolated knoll with extensive views in all
directions. The position has been chosen for its strategic strength and the
site is clearly designed as a military work. The ringwork is circular in plan
with an overall diameter of 42m and includes a circular bank with an average
width of 7m and height of 1.6m enclosing an internal area 25m in diameter. The
interior surface of the enclosure originally would have been at the same level
as the outside ground. However, the interior has been cut into in the north
and south quarters creating deep water-filled hollows separated by a narrow
stone ridge. Central to the ridge is a deep circular water-filled hollow cut
into the stone. These excavations may be the result of stone quarrying; stone
is close to the surface and a later quarry lies lower down the hill to the
north east. A break 6m wide in the north east quarter of the bank, slightly
out-turned on the south east side, appears to be an original entrance. A
surrounding ditch, from which the material would have been quarried for the
construction of the bank, is visible as a slight hollow 4m wide and 0.2m deep
for a short length around the north west and south west sides; elsewhere it
will survive as a buried feature of similar width.
Local tradition suggests that the enclosure was constructed during the Civil
War as an emplacement for the cannon shelling of Hopton Castle which lies 600m
to the north west. There is a clear view of the castle from Warfield Bank.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
19200
Legacy System:
RSM
End of official list entry
