Reading Forbury Hill (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Reading.
In the historic county of Berkshire.
Modern Authority of Reading.
1974 county of Berkshire.
Medieval County of Berkshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SU71907363
Latitude 51.45717° Longitude -0.96649°

Reading Forbury Hill has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

A motte had been built by King Stephen on Abbey land and was destroyed in 1153. It was evidently used as part of the town's Civil War defences. (King 1983)

Rex Stephanus firmavit castellum apud Radingum. (Matthew Paris)

Circular mound 2.0m high situated on a good position on a northern facing slope overlooking the River Thames. Its original purpose or date is not known, but it was incorporated into a garden design during the mid C19. Possibly a Civil War battery. (PastScape)

The reason for its being built is not clear. Possibly its site is represented by the enigmatic mound in the Forbury Gardens, which mound could well represent a decayed motte. This mound has been variously interpreted as a feature of the Danish camp of 870; the burial mound of Jarl Sidroc killed at the battle of Ashdown in 870; or part of the Civil War defences. An alternative site for this castle has been suggested near Blake's Bridge by the former East Gate of the abbey. (Slade 1969)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1007932, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 19019
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 244967.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 02113.08.000.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Britannia America's Gateway to the British Isles since 1996
  David Nash Ford's Historic Buildings of Berkshire
Books
- Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 21
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 11
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 283
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker)
  Slade, C.F., 1969, 'Reading' in Lobel, M.D. (ed), Historic Towns: Maps and Plans of Towns and Cities in the British Isles, with Historical Commentaries, from Earliest Times to 1800 Vol. 1 (London: Lovell Johns-Cook, Hammond and Kell Organization) online copy
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Page, Wm and Ditchfield, P.H. (eds), 1906, VCH Berkshire Vol. 1 p. 266
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 1 p. 176 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Spurrell, M., 1995, 'Containing Wallingford Castle, 1146-53' Oxoniensia Vol. 60 p. 257-70 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Howlett, R. (ed), 1889, 'The Chronicle of Robert of Torigni' in Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II, and Richard I (Rolls series 82) Vol. 4 p. 174 online copy
  Luard, H.R. (ed), 1874, Matthæi Parisiensis: Monachi Santi Albani, Chronica Majora (Rolls Series 57) Vol. 2 p. 184 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Historic England, 2015, Heritage at Risk South East Register 2015 (London: Historic England) p. 73 online copy
  English Heritage, 2014, Heritage at Risk Register 2014 South East (London: English Heritage) p. 79 online copy
  English Heritage, 2013, Heritage at Risk Register 2013 South East (London: English Heritage) p. 73 online copy
  English Heritage, 2012, Heritage at Risk Register 2012 South East (London: English Heritage) p. 79 online copy
  English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 South East (London: English Heritage) p. 75 online copy
  English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 South West (London: English Heritage) p. 70 online copy
  English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009 South East (London: English Heritage) p. 73 online copy

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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.
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