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 a medieval ringwork constructed on a sandstone and clay
ridge which forms part of the Surrey Weald. The ringwork, which is situated
just to the north of the Surrey/West Sussex county boundary, survives as a
low, circular, flat-topped mound measuring 32m in diameter, surrounded by a
defensive dry ditch up to 5.5m wide and 0.5m deep. Access to the interior was
by way of a simple, 4m wide causewayed entrance through the south eastern
defences. Fragments of glazed Norman pottery and red floor tiles were
discovered during part excavation of the mound in 1928. The investigation also
revealed large quantities of charcoal beneath a layer of disturbed ground,
indicating that the mound was the site of contemporary wooden structures which
were destroyed by burning, and the earthwork defences slighted, at the time of
the abandonment of the ringwork.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
31387
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals
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
