Chanstone North Tump, Vowchurch

Description

One of two tumps at Chanstone.

earthwork and buried remains of a motte castle, situated on level ground on the east bank of the River Dore, near the head of the Golden Valley. The remains include an earthen motte mound, of circular form, c.42m diameter at the base. It is surrounded by a ditch from which material for the mound's construction will have been quarried. The motte's steep sides rise c.4m above the bottom of the ditch, to a flat top c.25m in diameter. A slight scar on the north east side of the motte may be the result of early investigation of the site. The ditch surrounds the motte from the north west quarter round to the south, being absent on the river side. It is also steep sided, 1.2m deep and c.8m wide. North of the motte the earthwork and buried remains of a rectangular building and roughly triangular courtyard area occupy a spur of land which projects south west towards the river. A series of shallow ditches define a building platform which is roughly 12m south west to north east by 9m transversely. The ditches marking the long edges of this building continue for c.40m towards the road, enclosing a courtyard area, the third side of which is defined by a contour leat running south east to Chanstone Mill. The leat has been infilled in this area, but is visible as a slight depression with darker grass cover; a slightly raised area just south of its junction with the eastern courtyard boundary may be the remains of a causeway. Further north, and fenced off from the rest of the field, the leat continues as a ditch running north west along the field boundary. It is heavily overgrown, but can be seen to be U-shaped, c.2m deep and c.3.5m wide. Its western edge is defined by a bank 2m-3m wide and visible in some places to a height of 1.5m. A masonry lining survives in some parts of the ditch, and the southern end of the bank, where the leat becomes infilled, is built up with a quantity of masonry blocks which may represent the remains of a weir. At right angles to this masonry feature, and 10m south east of it, an old track, or hollow way, is visible in the hedgeline against the road. This feature represents the remains of the original access to the motte and courtyard complex, and is 15m wide and 1m deep. (Scheduling Report)

Motte at Cranstone. The motte is 58 metres in external diameter and 4 metres high from the bottom of the ditch. There are traces of masonry on the mound suggesting a shell keep. There may have been a bailey to the north. A geophysical survey of the large low motte revealed four high resistance rectangular anomalies on the summit and three high resistance rings around the edge of the mound. No evidence of a bailey could be detected in the vicinity, although external structures may be present on a spur of ground to the north. Opposite is a moated site (SO33NE54) which formed part of the same curtilage. (PastScape)

Comments

See also Chanstone South Tump