Magdalen Laver mound (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Magdalen Laver.
In the historic county of Essex.
Modern Authority of Essex.
1974 county of Essex.
Medieval County of Essex.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL51590842
Latitude 51.75397° Longitude 0.19477°

Magdalen Laver mound has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

Moated mound, 300yds north east of the church. Modern causeway on the south east. The mound is about 80ft in diameter at the base, 15ft high above the bottom of the moat which is 6ft deep. On high ground, at 'present' tree covered. 36m overall in diameter, 14m in diameter at the top and c4.5m high. The ditch is seasonally dry and broken by an original causeway on the south east side, appearing here to encroach on the south side of Pole Lane (on old boundary bank). No other earthworks associated with moat or proximity to manorial settlement. Makes it probably only a mill site. (Unlocking Essex's Past)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 372691.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 4209.

Books
- Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 36
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 145
  Powell, W.R. (ed), 1956, VCH Essex Vol. 4 p. 104 online transcription
  RCHME, 1921, An inventory of the historical monuments in Essex Vol. 2 (central and south-west) p. 169 no. 2 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Sharp, P.D.R. and McOmish, D., 2013, 'Survey of an earthwork mound – Magdalen Laver' Essex Archaeology and History Vol. 4 (ser4) p. 223-28

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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