Pilton Mound
Has been described as a Rejected Timber Castle (Motte)
There are earthwork remains
| Name | Pilton Mound |
| Alternative Names | Morcott Spinney |
| Historic Country | Rutland |
| Modern Authority | Rutland |
| 1974 Authority | Leicestershire |
| Civil Parish | North Luffenham |
A circular mound, most recently interpreted as '..a viewing platform or prospect mound of probably seventeenth century date, constructed to as to overlook a gentry seat and its designed landscape setting.' The mound is 9 feet in height, 78 feet in diameter, surrounded by a 12 foot wide ditch with a 4 foot counterscarp. Earlier interpretations have suggested that it is an incomplete motte and possibly the site of a Parliamentarian gun position. Aerial reconnaissance photography shows a rectilinear enclosure immediately to, and aligned on, the mound, suggesting a probable association. (PastScape)
Situation: The earthwork occupies an isolated site in a spinney on the west side of the Morcott-North Luffenham road. The feature is constructed upon minor scarp south of the River Chater and overlooks a considerable tract of land to the north.
Preservation: The site is completely overgrown and much denuded. The incomplete status of the semi-circular ditch seems related to the site’s original function rather a result of subsequent infilling or erosion.
Description: This obscure earthwork comprises a steep-sided earthen mound partially surrounded (except on the south side) by a dry ditch. The mound is c. 3m high, with a flat and round summit c. 23m in diameter. The ditch is c. 4m wide, and has a low counterscarp bank of c. 1-1.5m in height, there being slight signs of two causeways, one on the east side, and another, less well marked to the north. There are no traces of building foundations on top of the mound, nor any signs of a bailey. In the VCH, the earthwork is described both as a nearly circular motte and possibly a Parliamentary gun position; it is also interpreted as a Saxon barrow or windmill mound, whilst an alternative view suggests that it may be a post-medieval prospect mound, as it lies on the axis of the main vista from North Luffenham Hall
If not a prospect mound, the feature may indeed be an incomplete/denuded motte. (Creighton 1998)
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 Reference | SK928023 |
| Latitude | 52.6108512878418 |
| Longitude | -0.631009995937347 |
| Eastings | 492800 |
| Northings | 302340 |
