Ringmer; The Mount (The Gatehouse Record)

Ringmer; The Mount

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Clay Hill

In the civil parish of Ringmer.
In the historic county of Sussex.
Modern Authority of East Sussex.
1974 county of East Sussex.

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ44901433
Latitude 50.9094° Longitude 0.0613°

Ringmer; The Mount has been described as a certain Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

The mutilated remains of a motte, overgrown with trees and scrub, and situated on a gentle N-facing slope. It measures c 40.0m in diameter and c 3.0m high above outside ground level, surrounded by a ditch, 7.0m across and about 1.5m deep, save on the N side where it is ploughed out. The ditch has been re-cut recently for drainage purposes. The summit is pock-marked by excavation trenches, wartime digging etc, giving the false impression of a bank around the S arc, and leading to the erroneous classification as a ringwork by King and Alcock. The alleged E entrance is probably a result of mutilations. Only about 9.0 m of the bank to the S of the motte remains, the rest having been ploughed out, so it cannot be determined whether this was a bailey. The farmer has not noticed unusual soil marks or crop growth, and no finds are known to have been made. (PastScape ref.–Field Investigators Comments–F1 NKB 10-JUL-72)

The site was excavated by SussexPast a few years ago and the excavation reports were published online but seem now to have been removed. This is a somewhat enigmatic earthwork. It lies within the medieval deer parks of Plashett Park and Ringer Park, it not an obvious manorial centre and not strategical positioned. The location is one of a hunting lodge.

Links to mapping and other online resources

Data >

PastScape

County HER

Maps >

Data/Maps >

Magic

Air Photos >

Photos >

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument number 1013064, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 12777
English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 406503.
County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MES1901.

Books
- Jones, R., 2003, 'Hastings to Herstmonceux: the castles of Sussex' in Rudling, D. (ed) The archaeology of Sussex to AD2000 (Great Dunham: Heritage Marketing and Publications) p. 171-8
  Salter, Mike, 2000, The Castles of Sussex (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 64
  Cooper, Nicholas, 1999, Houses of the Gentry, 1480-1680 (Yale University Press) p. 196
  Guy, John, 1984, Castles in Sussex (Phillimore) p. 136
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 474
Periodical Articles
- King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol. 3 p. 90-127
  Toms, Herbert S, 1922, 'Mounts at Lewes and Ringmer' Sussex Archaeological Collections Vol. 63 p. 223-226

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself. The information within this site is provided freely by me for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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This record last updated on Friday, May 3, 2013

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