Motte Castle Adjacent To The Mount Cottage, Rorrington
- HER Number (PRN): 01044
- Site Name : Motte Castle Adjacent To The Mount Cottage, Rorrington
- Protected Status:
Grade: Ref No.: 1012862 Title: Motte castle Type: Scheduled Monument - Civil Parish:
- Grid Reference: SJ 3182 0204
- Brief Description: Scheduled Monument: A good example of a Norman motte castle, one of a series of such fortifications strategically positioned along the main pass between Shrewsbury and Montgomery.
- Description: A motte situated on the edge of a steep sided valley. It stands 8ft above a ditch now 2ft deep, and has a top about 42ft in diameter. There is no sign of any bailey, nor does the adjoining small-holding occupy a possible site for one <2a>
At Rorrington is a small mound adjacent to a farm-house, probably a tumulus <2b>
Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, High score as one of 43 Motte castles <6>
The monument includes a small motte castle situated on the northern edge of a small steep sided valley. It includes an earthen mound up to 25m in diameter and 2.5m high positioned on the precipitous edge of the valley to make maximum defensive use of the natural topography, the natural slope forming the south west side of the motte. The flat summit of the motte is circular in plan with a diameter of 16m. A ditch 6m wide and 0.4m deep is visible around the north east quarter of the motte. The ditch has been removed by the excavation of a platform for the construction of a cottage and outbuildings around the south east quarter and would never have existed around the west, where the valley slopes provide sufficient defence. The cottage and outbuildings which lie adjacent to the monument are not included within the scheduling, their platform being cut through the ditch. <7>
Visible on LiDAR data collected and processed during the Stiperstones and Corndon LPS "Open Hills, Old Ways & Commons" project, in 2014. <8>
Visited during a condition survey by the English Heritage Field Monument Warden, in 1999. Condition recorded as mainly satisfactory. <9> - Record Type: Monument
- Sources:
(00) Card index: Shropshire County Council SMR. Site and Monuments Record (SMR) cards. SMR record cards. SMR Card for PRN SA 01044. (01) Card index: Ordnance Survey. 1971. Ordnance Survey Record Card SJ30SW10 . Ordnance Survey record cards. SJ30SW10 . (02) Field Monument Warden Report: Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission (HBMC). 1985. Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 18107. (02a) Article in serial: Spurgeon C J & King D J C. 1965. The Mottes in the Vale of Montgomery. Archaeologia Cambrensis. Vol 114. p76. (02b) Volume: Victoria County History. 1908. Victoria County History 1. Victoria County History of Shropshire. Vol 1. p411. (03) Oblique aerial photograph: Musson Chris R. 1987-Dec-13. CPAT 87/MB/1277 to 1278 (2 photos). Black and White. Medium. (04) Scheduled Monument notification: Ministry of Public Buildings and Works. 1969. Map of Scheduled area, 1969. (06) TEXT: Horton Wendy B. 1990/ 1991. MPP Evaluation File. (07) Scheduled Monument notification: English Heritage. 1995. Scheduling Papers (Revised Scheduling, 19/05/1995). 19195. (08) Geospatial data: Environment Agency. 2014. LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) Hillshade Model (Stiperstones and Corndon LPS). Stiperstones and Corndon LPS. (09) Field survey report: Leigh Judith. 2001. Scheduled Ancient Monuments in the Shropshire Hills ESA: Brief Condition Survey. - Tags:
- Related Places:
- For more information contact: Shropshire Council HER
- Date Created: 28/09/1995
- Date Last Edited: 04/12/2017 09:28:38
