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 earthwork and buried remains of a ringwork, situated
in the valley of the Worm Brook, some 750m west of Grove Farm. The monument
occupies a slight rise in the ground and includes an earthen bank which
encloses a roughly oval area, measuring c.50m north west-south east by c.38m
transversely, including the bank itself. Material for the construction of the
bank will have been quarried from the surrounding ditch, which averages 8m
wide, and survives up to 2m deep in the north west and south east quarters.
Elsewhere the ditch has become infilled, however it appears on aerial
photographs as a continuous feature and will survive below ground in these
areas. At its highest point the bank rises 4.5m above the bottom of the ditch.
It will originally have been surmounted by a palisade to further enhance the
visual impact and defensive capabilities of the ringwork.
The area enclosed by the bank has been raised slightly above the level of the
surrounding area, and the remains of the structures which originally occupied
this space are visible as earthworks in the interior. Access to the ringwork
was by means of a causeway across the ditch in the north eastern quarter,
where a break in the bank is flanked by low mounds. A possible second entrance
is indicated on the opposite side, where a similar break in the bank with
slight mounding to either side can be seen. The remains of an external, or
counterscarp bank, roughly 2m wide, survive in the north west quarter to a
height of 0.6m. Its survival in this area is the result of its incorporation
into a post-medieval field boundary: elsewhere the bank has been degraded by
ploughing and is no longer visible.
The ringwork is one of a concentration of medieval defensive sites in the
area, one of its closest neighbours being the motte castle at Thruxton, some
6km to the north west, the subject of a separate scheduling (SM27492).
All fences across the ringwork are excluded from the scheduling, but the
ground beneath them is included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
27541
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
