Castle Rising Keepers Wood

Has been described as a Questionable Timber Castle (Ringwork), and also as a Questionable Siege Work

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains

NameCastle Rising Keepers Wood
Alternative Names
Historic CountryNorfolk
Modern AuthorityNorfolk
1974 AuthorityNorfolk
Civil ParishCastle Rising

Earthwork of a mound identified in Keeper's Wood. It has been interpreted as a possible round barrow, motte or siege castle. (PastScape)

Ringwork, possibly siege castle (King 1983 as 'possible' which generally, in King's terminology, means doubtful)

The motte castle in Keeper's Wood survives well and remains an impressive monument, despite the hollow excavated into the south west side. The mound and buried ditch will retain archaeological information concerning the construction and use of the motte, which is of particular interest in relation to the 12th century castle at Castle Rising, 800m to the west. Evidence for earlier land use will also be preserved in soils buried beneath the mound.

The monument, which has been identified as a motte castle, includes a large earthen mound with a surrounding ditch, situated on the edge of a slope overlooking Babingley River, 400m to the north. The mound, or motte, stands to a height of c.3.5m and covers a sub-circular area with a maximum diameter of c.80m. Its top is a slightly dished platform measuring c.30m across. A ditch encircling the mound, from which material was quarried for its construction, has been mostly infilled but remains visible as a shallow, semicircular hollow c.16m wide to the south west of the mound. It will, however, survive as a buried feature. A large hollow, measuring c.5m wide and 7m deep at the bottom and c.12m wide at the top, has been excavated into the south west face of the mound. (Scheduling Report)

Gatehouse Comments

Llddiard reports that this is now believed to be a natural mound. This is an irregular and damaged mound that has several different and doubtful interpretations over the years. There are a couple of other mounds within 500m. Marked as 'Mound' not as 'Motte' on OS map. There is no recorded attacks on Castle Rising. Gatehouse suspects that if this mound did have any medieval use it was as a mildly defensible foresters lodge, very doubtful as siege work.

- 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 ReferenceTF674246
Latitude52.7936706542969
Longitude0.481649994850159
Eastings567430
Northings324680
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

No photos available. If you can provide pictures please contact Castlefacts

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.

Calculate Print

Books

  • Liddiard, R., 2000, Landscapes of Lordship (British Archaeological Reports British Series 309)
  • Rogerson, Andrew, 1994, 'Castles' in Wade-Martins, P, (ed), An Historical Atlas of Norfolk (2edn Norwich; Norfolk Museums) p. 68-9
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 310
  • Lawson, A. J., Martin, E., Priddy, D. and Taylor, A., 1981, The Barrows of East Anglia (East Anglian Archaeology No 12)
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1962, The Buildings of England: Norfolk: North-West and South (Penguin) p. 119 (siege castle)

Journals

  • King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol. 3 p. 90-127

Other

  • English Heritage, 1987, Scheduled Ancient Monuments Record: Norfolk.