Ratcliffe Culey (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Witherley.
In the historic county of Leicestershire.
Modern Authority of Leicestershire.
1974 county of Leicestershire.
Medieval County of Leicestershire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SP32749941
Latitude 52.59151° Longitude -1.51797°

Ratcliffe Culey has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

South-east of the Sence Brook, within a field immediately to the east of the church is a well defined mount and fosse of very moderate dimensions. The mount is nearly circular with a gradual escarpment of 19 ft. and is surrounded by a fosse, distinct but very shallow, which latter condition is due to the action of the plough. (VCH) "A good example of a moated site at Ratcliffe Culey, where there is a circular or an oval site within a deep moat.....This is probably an early example, perhaps dating from the time of John (1199-1216)." (Hoskins) Shape and position consistent with a castle mount, but the mound itself is no higher than the surrounding ground. (Field Investigators Comments-C F Wardale/21-FEB-1959/Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigator) Not a castle mound. This is a sub-circular moat (with perhaps some affinity to a ring-castle), the ditch attaining a max depth of 1.7m. The enclosed island shows no surface evidence of a former structure. (Field Investigators Comments-F D Colquhoun/07-JUL-1972/Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigator) Moat and fishponds at Ratcliffe Culey. The oval-shaped, dry moated site measures 50m x 40m overall. The moat ditch is deepest on the south side, approximately 2.5m deep and 12m wide, and has traces of an outer bank on this side. A hollow way runs between the north-west side of the moat and the road to the church (scheduling report). (PastScape)

Comments

King rejects this site as merely a homestead moat. However, this is in a typical position for an early manorial centre and it is an oval shaped moat and clearly more than a homestead moat. Damage by plough makes interpretation of the site difficult but dating evidence would be useful. Was this a Saxon thegnal burh? Did the de Culey's, who held the manor from at least the late C12 until the mid C14, alter the site? Does the Culey suffix to the village suggest a significant residence here?

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1010480, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 17058
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 336145.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MLE3305.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Martyn Parson
Books
- Knox, Richard, 2015, 'The medieval fortified sites of Leicestershire and Rutland' in Medieval Leicestershire: Recent research on the Medieval Archaeology of Leicester (Liecestershire Fieldworks 3) p. 123-42
  Hartley, Robert F., 2008, The Medieval Earthworks of South-West Leicestershire Hinckley and Bosworth (Leicestershire Museums Archaeological Fieldwork Monograph 2) p. 48, 49 (plan)
  Cantor, Leonard, 2003, The Scheduled Ancient Monument of Leicestershire and Rutland (Leicester: Kairos Press) p. 69
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 43
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 256 (reject)
  Hoskins, W.G., 1950, The Heritage of Leicestershire (Leicester: City of Leicester Publicity Dept. Information Bureau) p. 16
  Wall, C., 1907, 'Ancient Earthworks' in Page, Wm, (ed), VCH Leicestershire Vol. 1 p. 257 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Cantor, Leonard, 1977-8, 'The Medieval Castles of Leicestershire' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol. 53 p. 40 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Creighton, O.H., 1998, Castles and Landscapes: An Archaeological Survey of Yorkshire and the East Midlands (PhD Thesis University of Leicester) p. 394-5 online copy

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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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