Raveningham Mill Mount

Has been described as a Possible Timber Castle (Motte)

There are earthwork remains

NameRaveningham Mill Mount
Alternative Names
Historic CountryNorfolk
Modern AuthorityNorfolk
1974 AuthorityNorfolk
Civil ParishRaveningham

'Remains of a small Norman motte slightly mutilated on the southeast side by the modern road. Of quite defensive construction this motte is similar to others encountered during investigation. A rectangular depression on top of the island may indicate the site of a mill which gives the site the name of Mill Mount'. Accompanying diagram shows the mound as surrounded by a ditch, partially wet, which is '3.6' (metres) deep on inner face and '1.9' on other. (Norfolk HER account of 1971 OS report)

Gatehouse Comments

PastScape record of Medieval Motte reads "Small moat, probably later utilized as a mill mound" Doesn't appear to be a manorial centre, included as a motte by Liddiard however, who considered it might date to 1171. An isolated mound without a bailey and not a manorial centre. The tenurial history suggest only one manorial residence and that was clearly The Hall next to the church in a park. Was the ditch just a security measure to protect valuable flour in an isolated mill or merely a result of obtaining soil for the mound from the closest possible location? Recorded as possible on the authority of Liddiard but the author of Gatehouse considers this dubious.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceTM393951
Latitude52.5020484924316
Longitude1.52454996109009
Eastings639300
Northings295190
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Liddiard, R., 2000, Landscapes of Lordship (British Archaeological Reports British Series 309) p. 102-4
  • Rogerson, Andrew, 1994, 'Castles' in Wade-Martins, P, (ed), An Historical Atlas of Norfolk (2edn Norwich; Norfolk Museums) p. 68-9
  • Margeson, S., Seiller, F. and Rogerson, A., 1994, The Normans in Norfolk (Norfolk Museums Service) p. 30
  • Blomefield, F., 1808, 'Clavering Hundred: Raveningham' An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk Vol. 8 p. 45-56 (tenurial history) online transcription

Journals

  • Liddiard, Robert, 2006, 'Early castles in the Medieval Landscape of East Anglia' Château Gaillard Vol. 22 p. 243-50