Great Somerford; The Mound

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; The Mount

In the civil parish of Great Somerford.
In the historic county of Wiltshire (Modern Authority of Wiltshire, 1974 county of Wiltshire).

Fair sized low motte at river crossing, flat-topped and 3.4m high in which the remains of a ruined building, possibly a church, were excavated in 1811 and 1910. Creighton suggests the castle mound was built over an existing church to control the nearby ford and the present nearby church is a refoundation. This could make this a siege work, possibly one of the three known to have been raised in 1144 against Malmesbury Castle.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Siege Work.
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 ST96388310

PastScape number; 212674

Books

Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern) p91
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p278 [slight]
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p499
Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p299
Pevsner, N. (Revised by Cherry, Bridget), 1975, The Buildings of England: Wiltshire (London, Penguin) p261
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p313

Journal Articles

Creighton, O.H., 2000, 'Early Castles in the Medieval Landscape of Wiltshire' Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol93 p112-4
Goddard, E., 1930, 'The mount at Great Somerford' Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol45 p88-9, 137-8 [weak excavation report]
Downman, E.A. and Goddard, E.H., 1919 'Plans of Wiltshire Earthworks' Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol40
1896-8, Wiltshire notes and queries Vol2 p543

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Great Somerford; The Mound

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST96388310

Sources of information, references and further reading