Home | Books | Links
| Fortifications and Castles | Other
Information | Help | Downloads
| Author Information | Contact
Mount Bures
In the civil parish of Mount Bures.
In the historic county of Essex (Modern Authority of Essex, 1974 county of Essex).
The steep-sided earthwork, 60m in diameter at the base, survives to 10m above the present ground surface, and is surrounded by a dry ditch c.3.5m deep and between 10m and 12m wide. Very little evidence of the bailey appeared to have survived. No evidence of a stockade or major fortification ditches was found, although the presence of two parallel ditches indicate a palisade. The Norman church stands immediately south of the mound and may originally have stood within the bailey. The work is on high ground which drops sharply towards a stream to the W; on the slope is a nearly rectangular area scarped on three sides, with an oblong depression near the W side. This is probably the site of a terraced garden to the hall. Plan and section of motte in RCHME. J.H. Round said 'I have been disposed to think that Mount Bures may have been the castle of the Sackvilles, raised perhaps in the anarchy under Stephen (1135-1154) or possibly under Henry I (1100-1135)' However the early C12 date of the church and the scale in proportions of the motte suggest that it is an early example of its type.
This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
The confidence
that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Earthworks remains.
This site is a scheduled
monument protected by law.
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TL90453255
PastScape number;
384608
County Sites and Monuments Record number; 9161
Books
- Neville, David, 2003, Lost Castles of Essex (Ian Henry) p89
Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern) p36
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p76 [slight]
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p145
RCHME, 1922, An inventory of the historical monuments in Essex. Vol3 [north-east] pp185-6
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Gould, Chalkley, 1903, in Doubleday, Arthur and Page, Wm (eds), VCH Essex Vol1 p290
Journal Articles
- Clarke, R., 2002, 'Contour survey of Mount Bures' Essex Archaeology and history Vol33 p378-80
McMaster, I.,1972, Colchester Archaeological Group annual Bulletin Vol15 p16-18
McMaster, I., 1970, Essex Journal p62-9 [Reprint of 1969 article]
McMaster, I., 1969, Colchester Archaeological Group annual Bulletin Vol12 p30-39
Round, J.H., 1906, Essex Archaeological Society transactions Vol9 p21 [King gives Gould as the author of this]
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 |
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English
Heritage and other individuals and organisations. |
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. |
Please help me to make this as
useful a resource as possible by contacting
me if you see errors
or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with
this site. |
¤¤¤¤¤
