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East Chelborough Stake Farm

In the civil parish of East Chelborough.
In the historic county of Dorset.
Modern Authority of Dorset.
1974 county of Dorset.
Medieval County of Dorset.

OS Map Grid Reference: ST55350549
Latitude 50.84715° Longitude -2.63554°

East Chelborough Stake Farm has been described as a probable Timber Castle, and also as a Siege Work although is doubtful that it was such.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

This site appears to be the remains of a motte and bailey castle. The motte, at the W end, is about 6 feet high on the north and more on the south side. It is irregular in shape and measures 30 yards by 50 yards. There are no traces of a ditch but to the east are the scarps of an irregularly shaped bailey enclosing about 2 acres. Dampness at this site may have caused the removal to the ridge top site (RCHME).
This site is in very poor condition, the motte fairly flat 1.5m high on the north side and up to 4.0m high on the south side. The scarp which presumably represents the bailey averages 6.0m wide and is from 1.0m to 2.0m high.
The break in the scarp at the north end is probably modern (F1 NVQ 23-NOV-71). (PastScape)
Comments

This is separated from a ringwork, Castle Hill by a farm. Speculation about the relationship between the two sites is unsupported by evidence but usually seems to suggest one site being replaced by the other. It may well be better to consider these two sites as one site with several phases of development and with the farm occupying the site of a bailey. It should also be noted King called this a 'possible' site, which seems in his terminology to mean he had serious doubts about it, and this may not be a motte at all but a later earthwork possibly reflecting agricultural practices.
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
PastScape   County HER   Scheduling        
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Sources of information, references and further reading
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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.
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This record last updated 26/07/2017 09:21:29

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