Moulton Castle Hill

Has been described as a Possible Timber Castle (Other/Unknown), and also as a Possible Fortified Manor House

There are no visible remains

NameMoulton Castle Hill
Alternative Names
Historic CountryNorthamptonshire and the Soke of Peterborough
Modern AuthorityNorthamptonshire
1974 AuthorityNorthamptonshire
Civil ParishMoulton

Manor House Site (?) (SP 78606715), 1 km. N.E. of the church on the N. side of a valley, on clay at 114 m. above OD. The area is traditionally known as Castle Hill and is said to be the site of the manor house of the Fitz John family who are known to have held land in Moulton in the 13th century (VCH Northants., IV (1937), 88–90). Bridges writing in c. 1720, said that foundations of buildings had been dug up and that there were traces of a moat (J. Bridges, Hist. of Northants., I (1791), 419).

The remains lie on a small, natural, almost circular knoll. On air photographs taken in 1946 (RAF VAP 3G/TUD/UK 118, 6224–5) most of the knoll was already under cultivation and only a wedge-shaped area of land remained intact. Within this, standing on the summit, was a V-shaped bank with its apex to the N., with a large depression or pit to the S. and what appear to have been rectangular platforms below it. These have been totally destroyed by modern ploughing and only the depression, 25 m.–30 m. across and up to 2 m. deep, survives. The surrounding area is very stony and there are patches of dark earth. A few sherds of medieval pottery have been discovered there. (RCHME)

Gatehouse Comments

There were several holdings in Moulton in 1086. This may have been the manor house of one of the secondary holdings, possibly one that became surplus when some of the holdings were combined later in the middle ages. It is, therefore, possible there was a small castle here perhaps one that was basically a large farmhouse using a natural knoll as a symbolic motte representing the status of a tenant. Intriguingly one of the Domesday tenants of 1086 was a William the artificer (or William the Engineer; William Engaine) who held 8 manors in Northamptonshire and who must have been a valued military engineer although it should not be assumed this was his holding or that the building on the natural knoll dates from the C11. Not to be confused with Moulton King's Hall, Lincolnshire which is, sometimes, called Moulton Castle.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSP786671
Latitude52.2968597412109
Longitude-0.848850011825562
Eastings478600
Northings267150
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

  • Lowerre, A.G., 2005, Placing Castles in the Conquest. Landscape, Lordship and Local Politics in the South-Eastern Midlands, 1066-1100 (Oxford: John and Erica Hedges Ltd: BAR British Series 385) p. 250
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 77
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 319
  • RCHME, 1979, An inventory of the historical monuments in the County of Northampton Vol. 2: Central Northamptonshire (HMSO) p. 111 online transcription
  • Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1937, VCH Northamptonshire Vol. 4 p. 88-90 (tenurial history) online transcription
  • Bridges, John, 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire (Oxford) Vol. 1 p. 419

Other

  • Lowerre, A.G., 2004, Placing Castles in the Conquest. Landscape, Lordship and Local Politics in the South-Eastern Midlands, 1066-1100 (PhD thesis: Boston College) p. 552