Ratcliffe Culey

Has been described as a Questionable Timber Castle (Motte)

There are earthwork remains

NameRatcliffe Culey
Alternative Names
Historic CountryLeicestershire
Modern AuthorityLeicestershire
1974 AuthorityLeicestershire
Civil ParishWitherley

South-east of the Sence Brook, within a field immediately to the east of the church is a well defined mount and fosse of very moderate dimensions. The mount is nearly circular with a gradual escarpment of 19 ft. and is surrounded by a fosse, distinct but very shallow, which latter condition is due to the action of the plough. (VCH) "A good example of a moated site at Ratcliffe Culey, where there is a circular or an oval site within a deep moat.....This is probably an early example, perhaps dating from the time of John (1199-1216)." (Hoskins) Shape and position consistent with a castle mount, but the mound itself is no higher than the surrounding ground. (Field Investigators Comments-C F Wardale/21-FEB-1959/Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigator) Not a castle mound. This is a sub-circular moat (with perhaps some affinity to a ring-castle), the ditch attaining a max depth of 1.7m. The enclosed island shows no surface evidence of a former structure. (Field Investigators Comments-F D Colquhoun/07-JUL-1972/Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigator) Moat and fishponds at Ratcliffe Culey. The oval-shaped, dry moated site measures 50m x 40m overall. The moat ditch is deepest on the south side, approximately 2.5m deep and 12m wide, and has traces of an outer bank on this side. A hollow way runs between the north-west side of the moat and the road to the church (scheduling report). (PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

King rejects this site as merely a homestead moat. However, this is in a typical position for an early manorial centre and it is an oval shaped moat and clearly more than a homestead moat. Damage by plough makes interpretation of the site difficult but dating evidence would be useful. Was this a Saxon thegnal burh? Did the de Culey's, who held the manor from at least the late C12 until the mid C14, alter the site? Does the Culey suffix to the village suggest a significant residence here?

- Philip Davis

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSP327994
Latitude52.5915107727051
Longitude-1.51796996593475
Eastings432740
Northings299410
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Knox, Richard, 2015, 'The medieval fortified sites of Leicestershire and Rutland' in Medieval Leicestershire: Recent research on the Medieval Archaeology of Leicester (Liecestershire Fieldworks 3) p. 123-42
  • Hartley, Robert F., 2008, The Medieval Earthworks of South-West Leicestershire Hinckley and Bosworth (Leicestershire Museums Archaeological Fieldwork Monograph 2) p. 48, 49 (plan)
  • Cantor, Leonard, 2003, The Scheduled Ancient Monument of Leicestershire and Rutland (Leicester: Kairos Press) p. 69
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 43
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 256 (reject)
  • Hoskins, W.G., 1950, The Heritage of Leicestershire (Leicester: City of Leicester Publicity Dept. Information Bureau) p. 16
  • Wall, C., 1907, 'Ancient Earthworks' in Page, Wm, (ed), VCH Leicestershire Vol. 1 p. 257 online copy

Journals

  • Cantor, Leonard, 1977-8, 'The Medieval Castles of Leicestershire' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol. 53 p. 40 online copy

Other

  • Creighton, O.H., 1998, Castles and Landscapes: An Archaeological Survey of Yorkshire and the East Midlands (PhD Thesis University of Leicester) p. 394-5 online copy