GATEHOUSE
The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
Home
The listings
Other Info
Books
Links
Downloads
Contact
 
Print Page 
 
Next Record 
Previous Record 
Back to list 

Ely Cherry Hill

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
The Mount

In the civil parish of Ely.
In the historic county of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely.
Modern Authority of Cambridgeshire.
1974 county of Cambridgeshire.
Medieval County of county palatine of the Isle of Ely.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL541799
Latitude 52.39594° Longitude 0.26304°

Ely Cherry Hill has been described as a certain Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Ely Castle, or Cherry Hill Castle, a motte and bailey built by William I in 1070 to subdue Ely. Once Ely was quiessent, the motte was abandoned. However it was refortified in 1140 and immediately captured by King Stephen, and was captured by Geoffrey de Mandeville in 1143. It lies on the south side of the Cathedral Park just inside 'Ely' Porta and close to the old tithe barn of the monastery. The motte is 40ft high with a basal diameter of 250ft and a summit diameter of 50ft. No ditch remains. The bailey consists of a four-sided enclosure on the south east of the motte, 300ft x 250ft. The surrounding bank is slight and there is no trace of an outer ditch. There is a gap in the north side where it should join the motte. (PastScape)

In the years following the Conquest the Isle of Ely became the rallying point of elements hostile to the new regime. In 1070 the Danish fleet moved S from the Humber to the Wash, where it was joined by local groups, and a joint Anglo-Danish force attacked Peterborough. William made a separate treaty with the Danish contingent, which then sailed for home, but a nucleus of native resistance remained in the Isle under the leadership of Hereward. This group was joined by Earl Morcar and other English notables in 1071, and the same year the King moved to blockade the Isle. After several setbacks the Isle was taken and the rebels dispersed. It is tempting to attribute the motte and bailey earthwork known as Cherry Hill to this episode. The contemporary chroniclers are, however, strangely silent about the planting of castles in the Isle. In the middle of the following century the writer of the Liber Eliensis believed that William stationed two garrisons in the Isle at this time. The wording of the entry is ambiguous, but the chronicler took care to distinguish between the praesidium left within the bounds of the Abbey and the castellum erected at Alrehede. It is by no means certain that Cherry Hill is a work of 1071. Ely became a centre of revolt again in 1142. Bishop Nigel raised against the King a castle ex lapide et cemento, and finding work on this constantly hindered by the intervention of Saint Aetheldreda, repaired the castle at Alrehede instead and set up a field battery to command the foreshore. It is not clear whether Bishop Nigel attempted to build a stone castle de novo, or was engaged in replacing in stone the timber defences of an earlier work built to house the praesidium of 1071. However, when Geoffrey de Mandeville occupied the Isle in 1143, the castrum de Ely at que de Alrehede were handed over to him. Of the castle at Alrehede and Bishop Nigel's defended battery at the water's edge no trace remains. Cherry Hill, in the grounds of the Cathedral, consists of a high citadel type motte with a rectangular bailey at the S side. The form of the earthworks suggests that some considerable alteration has taken place in the past, and the exact interrelationship of the motte with its bailey has been obscured. (Cambs HER–Ref. Davidson)
Comments

The stone 'castle' recorded by Davidson may well relate to earliest foundations of Ely Bishop's palace. The motte does not seem to show any evidence of stone buildings. Lowerre is of the opinion the castle was short lived and abandoned shortly after 1071.
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
PastScape   County HER   Scheduling        
Maps >
Streetmap   NLS maps   Where's the path   Old-Maps      
Data/Maps > 
Magic   V. O. B.   Geology   LiDAR   Open Domesday  
Air Photos > 
Bing Maps   Google Maps   Getmapping   ZoomEarth      
Photos >
CastleFacts   Geograph   Flickr   Panoramio      

Sources of information, references and further reading
Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. 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.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely 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.
Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.
This record last updated 26/07/2017 09:19:31

Home | Books | Links | Fortifications and Castles | Other Information | Help | Downloads | Author Information | Contact
¤¤¤¤¤