Meppershall; The Hills

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Meppenhall

In the civil parish of Meppershall.
In the historic county of Bedfordshire (Modern Authority of Bedfordshire, 1974 county of Bedfordshire).

Motte measuring circa 25.0m by 30.0m, with baileys of irreuglar shape. The surrounding ditches are dry and there appears to be the remains of a contemporary sluice ditch on the North-East side. The motte and bailey are surrounded by the bank and ditch of an outer entrenchment in the form of a rough square enclosing about 30 acres. The whole site is largely devoid of habitation, and this outer enclosure is probably comtemporary with the motte and bailey. This motte may have been one of those besieged by King Stephen in 1138.

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 TL13253585

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; 362452

Books

Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern) p14
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p4 [slight]
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p6
Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p259
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
Wadmore, Beauchamp, 1920, The Earthworks of Bedfordshire (Bedford) p109-11
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Doubleday, H.Arthur and Page, Wm (eds), 1904, VCH Bedford Vol1 p295-6

Journal Articles

Baker, D., 1982, 'Mottes, Moats and ringworks in Bedfordshire: Beauchamp Wadmore revisited' Château Gaillard Vol9-10 p35-54 [plan]
Dyer, J.F., 1961-3, Bedfordshire magazine Vol8 p271

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.

Go to Previous Record Go to Next Record Back to List
This record last updated on Friday, April 6, 2007

¤¤¤¤¤