Hinckley Castle Hill

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; The Mount; Hughes Castle

In the civil parish of Hinckley.
In the historic county of Leicestershire (Modern Authority of Leicestershire, 1974 county of Leicestershire).

Medieval motte and bailey castle, often identified as a ringwork. The bailey still survives as an earthwork but the motte was destroyed by redevelopment in 1976, resulting in the current ringwork form. Castle in existence by mid-C12, in decay by 1351 and ruinous circa 1538. The bailey survives as a flat topped circular area 70m in diameter rising about 10m above the surrounding land. An external ditch is up to 18m wide and part water-filled. An internal bank rises 3m above the mound on the eastern side, decreasing to 2m on the south, and 1m on the west.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Uncertain remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP428938

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 338131

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/140/hinckleycastle.htm
• Books
  • Cantor, Leonard, 2003, The Scheduled Ancient Monument of Leicestershire and Rutland (Leicester: Kairos Press) p33
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p36 [repeats King's misidentification as a ringwork]
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p141 [slight]
    Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p50
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p253 [wrongly called a ringwork]
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Wall, 1907, in Page, Wm, (ed), VCH Leicestershire Vol1 p257
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p413-14
• Journal Articles
  • Creighton, O.H., 1997, 'Early Leicestershire Castles: Archaeology and Landscape History' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol71 p34
    Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p313
    Cantor, Leonard, 1977-8, 'The Medieval Castles of Leicestershire' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol53 p36
    King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    1934-5, Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol18 p187
    Harrold, T., 1888, Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol6 p326, 330-1
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/huntseng.html#leics3]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p282
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p21