Castlefacts³

Akenham

Has been described as a Questionable Timber Castle (Motte)

There are earthwork remains

Name	Akenham
Alternative Names	Whitton; The Island; Rise Hall
Historic Country	Suffolk
Modern Authority	Suffolk
1974 Authority	Suffolk
Civil Parish	Akenham

King writes "low moated mound, possible motte" PastScape report as "Possible Medieval moated site."

Small moated site with a central island 14.0m across and 0.3m high. Ditch is waterfilled on the W side and parts of the N and S sides, the remainder is merely marshy. There are traces of a causeway in the middle of the E side. On the lower W side there are small fragments of a probable retaining wall for the moat. Site lies just S of Rise Hall and it is likely that this moat accommodated a timber-framed dovecote. (Suffolk HER)

Gatehouse Comments

Possibly the precursor site for Rise Hall. How unusual is it for a dovecot to moated? A moat might protect the dovecot from poachers but would be expensive to build and maintain. On the other hand reusing an existing moat would make sense. The mound is small and there is no attached bailey, Rise Hall being about 50m to the north, in an oval enclosure partly defined by ponds. Mottes slightly separate from baileys do occasionally occur but make no sense as defensive features. Was this moated mound a fundamentally symbolic feature?

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)

388161

County Historic Environment Record

www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MSF13127&resourceID=1017

OS Map Grid Reference	TM146485
Latitude	52.0939788818359
Longitude	1.13226997852325
Eastings	614650
Northings	248590