CASTLE HILL

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Norman ringwork excavated, revealing a Late Saxon hall house. Roman pottery was also found during the excavations. The most recent interpretation suggests that the first occupation of the site was in the late 10th century. In the early 11th century a bank and ditch were constructed with a massive rampart added in the mid 11th century. Soon afterwards the rampart was heightened and widened and the present ringwork was perhaps created at this stage. The site was abandoned by the mid 12th century.

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(SP 55654530) Castle Hill (NR) (1)

During excavation of the Norman ringwork a timber framed aisleless hall of the early 11th c was found. It measured 75 ft
by 20ft and had a dais at one end for the solar. It had opposed doorways and a cross-screen. After partial rebuilding on stone foundations the hall seems to have been abandoned by the mid 11th c in favour of successive timber buildings on stone footings, backed against the rampart. (2-3)

Excavations in 1968 showed that the "high" end of the pre-conquest hall had been provided with an L-shaped chamber block of timber carried on stone footings capable of sustaining an upper storey. It would now seem to be over 80ft long, apparently a sophisticated building of 5 square bays with a porch at one end.
The Conquest-period defences to the NW of the hall were excavated and it is clear that the Saxon perimeter was destroyed by the Norman ditch. The existing gap in the ringwork was found to be a 19th c feature. Access in the second half of the 11th c was made through the opposed doors of a pre-conquest stone building 30ft by 35ft, set into the ramparts and used as a gatehouse.

The pre-conquest layout seems to have been a freestanding building of stone, possibly with timber upper storeys, set to
one side of the Great Hall.
Further excavations are proposed in 1970 and 1971. (4)

Brief report of continuing excavation. (5-6)

A Norman ringwork with a maximum height of 3.6m; it is partly quarried on the north-east face but some soil replacement has taken place. The ditch has been filled to the south-west and south-east, but to the north has a maximum depth of 0.8m. Owing to previous excavations, the top of the mound is greatly disturbed and many infilled areas are evident.
1:2500 AM revised. (7)

Ringwork (SP 557453). A tenurial link exists between this site and possibly contemporary ringworks at Culworth [SP 54 NW 10] and Weston and Weedon [SP 54 NW 10] all of which were held in 1086 by Ghilo and his undertenants. The most recent interpretation suggests that first occupation of the site was in the late C10th. In the early C11th a bank and ditch were constructed with a massive rampart added in the mid C11th. Soon afterwards the rampart was heightened and widened; the present ringwork was perhaps created at this stage. The site was abandoned by the mid C12th. A scatter of Roman pottery was found during the excavations. [RCHM plan; additional references]. (8)

(SP 5565). Planning consent granted in 1981, resulted in an excavation on land to the north of the castle site. No datable features were recovered but a limestone surface was identified underlying deposits containing Medieval pottery. It is possible that the limestone surface was part of an approach to the castle although no Late Saxon pottery was found. Several later post holes were uncovered but these remained unidentified. (9)

The site appears to represent an upper stratum of late Saxon society, Davison believes the site to have been a thane's residence, which then incorporated a Norman ring work into a rectangular structure. (10)

Listed by Cathcart king. (11)

SOURCE TEXT

(11) David J Cathcart King 1983 Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the Islands. Volume II : Norfolk-Yorkshire and the islands

2 Page(s)318

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1955

( 2) Medieval archaeology : journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology

Plan 6-7 1962-3 Page(s)333

( 3) Medieval archaeology : journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology

Plan 8 1964 Page(s)237

( 4) Royal Archaeological Institute The archaeological journal

Plan and Illustration 125 1968 Page(s)305-7

( 5) Medieval archaeology : journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology

17 1973 Page(s)147

( 6) Council for British Archaeology Group 9: South Midlands archaeology newsletter

B Davidson 3 1973 Page(s)20

( 7) Field Investigators Comments

F1 FDC 12-MAY-77

( 7a) Aerial photograph

Air Photographs (RAF CPE/UK/1994 1098-99 13-APR-77)

( 8) Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England 1982 An inventory of the historical monuments in the County of the Northampton. Volume IV: archaeological sites in south-west Northamptonshire

Monument 3 Page(s)139

( 8b) Royal Archaeological Institute The archaeological journal

134 1977 Page(s)105-14

( 8c) Aerial photograph

Air Photographs (RAF CPE/UK/1926 1215-6)

( 9) Northamptonshire Archaeological Society Northamptonshire archaeology

17 1982 Page(s)103

(10) edited by David M Wilson 1976 The archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England

Page(s)63-64, 85-86

(10a) Royal Archaeological Institute The archaeological journal

Davison BK, The Excavations at Sulgrave, Northamptonshire. 125, 1968 Page(s)305-7

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