Lyneham Hillock Wood
Has been described as a Rejected Timber Castle (Motte)
There are no visible remains
Name | Lyneham Hillock Wood |
Alternative Names | |
Historic Country | Wiltshire |
Modern Authority | Wiltshire |
1974 Authority | Wiltshire |
Civil Parish | Lyneham |
Alleged site of a motte and bailey. A ditch and trackways are present. Not an antiquity. (PastScape)
? The remains of a Norman motte and bailey of about 4 acres. South of Hillocks Wood (VCH).
This is a ditch, averaging 4.0 m wide, with only slight banks on either side and it runs S.W. from the edge of Hillocks Wood for approx 100 m. then turns N.W. down a slope for some further 200 m. (F1 JP 24-AUG-68).
Situated below the crest to the S and commanding only a limited view to the N, the feature is not defensive and it is difficult to conceive either a camp, or a motte and bailey, in this position.
What seems most likely is that the ditch represents two separate tracks converging on a farm near the top of the hill, of which a brick barn still survives.
The original authority for describing the site as 'an ancient camp' was W.J. Parsons; while for the 2nd Edn. O.S. 25" Mrs. Cunnington described it as 'a ruined motte and bailey', though it is doubtful if she visited the site. (PastScape)
Mentioned as motte and bailey (Pevsner). There is nothing on ground here; older OS maps show a shapeless earthwork, nothing like a motte and bailey. (King 1983)
Not scheduled
Not Listed
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid Reference | SU026804 |
Latitude | 51.5225105285645 |
Longitude | -1.96389997005463 |
Eastings | 402600 |
Northings | 180400 |