Moulton Castle Hill

In the civil parish of Moulton.
In the historic county of Northamptonshire (Modern Authority of Northamptonshire, 1974 county of Northamptonshire).

Possible manor house site. The area is traditionally known as Castle Hill and is said to be the site of the manor house of the Fitz John family who are known to have held land in Moulton in C13. Bridges writing in circa 1720, said that foundations of buildings had been dug up and that there were traces of a moat. The remains lie on a small, natural, almost circular knoll. On air photographs taken in 1946 most of the knoll was already under cultivation and only a wedge-shaped area of land remains intact. Within this, standing on the summit, was a V-shaped bank with its apex to the N, with a large depression or pit to the S and what appear to have been rectangular platforms below it. These have been totaly destroyed by modern ploughing and only the depression, 25m.-30m. across and up to 2m. deep, survives. The surrounding area is very stoney and there are patches of dark earth. A few sherds of medieval pottery have been discovered there.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Fortified Manor House.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Nothing visible remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP78606715

PastScape number; 343437

Books

Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p77
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2
RCHME, 1979, An inventory of the historical monuments in the County of Northampton. Vol2: Central Northamptonshire (HMSO) p111
Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1937, VCH Northampton Vol4 p88-90
Bridges, John, 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northampshire (Oxford) Vol1 p417

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Moulton Castle Hill

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP78606715

Sources of information, references and further reading