Ratley Motte

In the civil parish of Ratley and Upton.
In the historic county of Warwickshire (Modern Authority of Warwickshire, 1974 county of Warwickshire).

Medieval motte and bailey castle, with possible Saxon origins. The motte measures 13m across at the summit and stands 6m above the base of the surrounding ditch. There are two baileys one to the north west and one to the south east. Excavations between 1968 and 1973 discovered a few C12 to C13 artefacts. Motte built on ringwork, footings of stone gatehouse found. Motte standing on a wedge-shaped hill. It is about 13m across at the top and has very steep sides 5 to 6.7m above the ditch which is formed round it. There is a small bailey on the N side enclosed by a high bank and on the S is an enclosure 20-23m across with a somewhat irregular bank. The whole surface of the enclosed area is much broken, presumably by people digging for stone. The buildings of Ratley village may have been built out of stone from the castle. The Motte must have been crowned by a timber tower, the S enclosure is possibly the site of later buildings, the bailey being too small to contain them in the usual way. Turchil the Saxon owned Ratley and he or one of his sons may well have been responsible for the castle.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Masonry 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 SP38094730

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; 335167

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 692

• Web site links
  • http://timetrail.warwickshire.gov.uk/detail.aspx?monuid=WA692
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham)
    Salter, Mike, 1992, Castles and Moated Mansions of Warwickshire (Malvern) p43
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford)
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p484
    Willoughby Gardner, 1904, in Doubleday, H.A. and Page, Wm (eds), VCH Warwickshire Vol1
• Journal Articles
  • 1989-90, Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol96 p5-26
    1974, Medieval Archaeology Vol18 p196-7
    1973, Medieval Archaeology Vol17 p163, 165
    Radcliffe F., 1973, West Midlands Archaeological News Sheet Vol16 p28
    Radcliffe F., 1972, West Midlands Archaeological News Sheet Vol15 p29
    Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1972, Medieval Archaeology Vol16 p183
    Radcliffe F., 1971, West Midlands Archaeological News Sheet Vol14 p32
    Wilson, D.M. and Hurst, D.G., 1969, Medieval Archaeology Vol13 p260
    Radcliffe F., 1968, West Midlands Archaeological News Sheet Vol11 p29-30
    Chatwin, P.B., 1947-8, 'Castles in Warwickshire' Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol67 p9-11