Lockington Coney Hill

Description

Earthwork and buried remains of a medieval motte and bailey castle, medieval moated site and fishponds. It is located 500m south of the village of Lockington. The monument lies to the west of the formerly extensive wetlands of the Holderness Marshes which were drained as late as the 18th century and converted to agricultural land. Little is currently known about the history of the site. The motte and bailey castle is thought to have been built in 1120 by the Fossard family who had held the manor of Lockington since 1071. As the seat of the manorial holding the castle would have functioned as the administration centre for the manor. The castle was probably abandoned in the late 13th to 14th centuries when in common with other high status dwellings in the region, the domestic and administrative functions of the manorial residence were transferred to a new hall erected on a moated site located in the castle bailey to the east of the motte. The moated site was in turn abandoned, probably by the 17th century when the fashion for moated sites waned, and its functions relocated to the current building known as Hall Garth, which dates to 1685. The motte has been known as Coney Hills since at least the mid 19th century. The word coney is a medieval term referring to rabbits or rabbit warrens, which indicates that the motte was associated with rabbits although whether this was as a managed warren or as a natural colony is currently unclear. The motte and bailey castle at Lockington takes the classic form and includes a flat-topped mound known as a motte encircled by a ditch with an enclosed area known as a bailey located to the east. The motte survives as a substantial sub-circular steep-sided mound measuring a maximum of 50m across and standing up to 4m above the encircling ditch. On the western side there is a substantial outer bank up to 20m wide and standing 2.5m high which decreases in size to the east so that at the eastern side there is no outer bank,allowing access to the bailey on this side. The ditch measures a maximum of 6m wide. The area of the bailey lies immediately to the east of the motte, however its original dimensions are unclear as the surviving remains have been obscured by the later moated site constructed within the bailey. The moated site includes an irregularly shaped platform centred on NGR TA99894655 surrounded by a ditch on all but the western side. The platform measures 50m north to south by a maximum of 40m east to west and the surrounding ditch measures 0.7m deep and is up to 6m wide. At the south east of the moated platform a pair of parallel linear ditches extend southwards. The easternmost of these joins the ditch surrounding the moated platform and is 40m in length and up to 4m in width. The western ditch extends southwards as far as the field boundary and then curves to extend north eastwards for some 60m. Both these ditches are interpreted as fishponds used for the cultivation of fish and as designed garden features. The moated site and motte lay within a wider enclosure or precinct in which a range of ancillary functions associated with the wider agricultural and economic functions of the manorial centre would have taken place. This is enclosed by a raised bank measuring up to 4m wide and standing up to 1m high which extends along the eastern, southern and western field boundaries defining the monument. At the northern side it extends along the southern side of the farm track as far as the complex of farm buildings. The line of the precinct boundary would originally have extended further east and south to complete the circuit, however the current farm complex has disturbed and obscured remains in this area and consequently it is not included in the monument. Within the north west corner of the precinct and to the west of the motte there are a series of significant earthworks taking the form of linear banks and rectangular platforms thought to be the buried remains of boundaries and buildings within the precinct. (Scheduling Report)

Camden records as "the rubbish of an old castle of Peter Mauly at Garthum. (rudera antiqui castri Petri de Malo Lacu sive Mauley ad Garthum)"