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Pipe Aston Tump 2

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Aston Tump 2

In the civil parish of Pipe Aston.
In the historic county of Herefordshire.
Modern Authority of Herefordshire.
1974 county of Hereford and Worcester.
Medieval County of Herefordshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO46227211
Latitude 52.34442° Longitude -2.79056°

Pipe Aston Tump 2 has been described as a probable Timber Castle, and also as a probable Siege Work.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

The earthwork remains of a denuded Medieval motte and bailey mapped from aerial photographs. The motte is 33m in diameter and stands 2.5m high on the north side. It is separated from the bailey to the west by a ditch 6m wide and 0.5m deep, with a bank 4m wide and 0.5m high. The bailey measures 60m east to west by 40m north to south and is bounded on the north by a scarp 2m high and on the south by a ditch 10m wide, up to 2m deep. On the east side it is 7m in width and 0.7m in depth. There are remains of an outer bank. (PastScape)

Mound S of road, 350yds NE of church, roughly circ in form, 50yds diam at base, with flat top rising at most c1.5' above surrounding ground. Traces of a ditch on S & W & of small outer enclosure on W. Condition poor (RCHME).
A small & weak motte & bailey situated on low spur with stream in little ravine on N side. Motte 33m diam, stands 2.5m high on N side. Separated from bailey to W by ditch 6m wide & 0.5m deep, bank 4m wide & 0.5m high. Bailey measures 60m E-W x 40m N-S bounded on N by scarp 2m high & on S by ditch 10m wide, up to 2m deep which is taken around E side of motte, reducing to 7m width & 0.7m depth. Remains of outer bank here. Site appears to have been under plough & features are reduced & spread (OS card). Another motte/tump lies 200m to the south (SMR 313). In Notes on the Aston Castles by Paul Martin Remfry. Historical information is used to try and date when the two castles were built with the suggestion that this one SMR No 6366 was the siege castle and also one of the missing castles destroyed by Henry II.(Shoesmith; Halliwell) (Herefordshire Through Time)
Comments

Remfry produces arguments that this was a siege work to Pipe Aston 1 dating from the Anarchy (probably 1140's). However, it is also suggested it may be an unfinished precursor; a false start. It is certainly an undistinguished low mound and a slight scarp which shows up much better on an air photo than on the ground, where it looks like a slightly bumpy field. A false start is possible, a house platform with some slight ditches aimed at managing the occasional intense local flooding might be another. A siege castle seems improbably since the Tump is not of a size where it could have contained a force sufficient to need to be besieged.
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
PastScape   County HER            
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Sources of information, references and further reading
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This record last updated 26/07/2017 09:21:30

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