Shortwood motte, Standon (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Standon.
In the historic county of Staffordshire.
Modern Authority of Staffordshire.
1974 county of Staffordshire.
Medieval County of Staffordshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ79533555
Latitude 52.91698° Longitude -2.30586°

Shortwood motte, Standon has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

"A large round barrow between Shortwood Farm and Standon Hall Farm but in a Shortwood field". Partly excavated in the centre, but Pape could find "no record of the work. "Trees grow on the mound and there is a ditch all round". (Pape)
"Mound. Half a mile west of Standon Old Hall ... Situated on high ground and commands an extensive view of the country on all sides. It is roughly circular to oval on plan and is surrounded by a ditch ... Along the eastern border the ditch is nearly filled in ..." There is a shallow depression in the centre with large trees growing from it. "The approximate distance across the mound from north to south is 50ft and from east to west 60ft. The width of the ditch averages about 20ft." (Thompson and Huntbach)
A small, strong motte, situated at SJ 79533555, upon a slight SE-facing pasture slope, a few feet below the highest point of a ridge-end. The feature measures overall, 36.0m NW-SE by 32.0m transversely. The mound has a diameter of 25.0m and a height of 1.2m and is surmounted by a bank, 6.0m in width, 0.7m in height, broken by a 3.0m wide entrance on the SE. The encircling ditch is 5.0m in width and 0.8m in depth and is broken by a causeway opposite the entrance. (F1 ASP 11-OCT-74) (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 74203.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 00475.

Periodical Articles
- Gunstone, A.J.H., 1965, 'An Archaeological Gazetteer of Staffordshire: Part 2' North Staffordshire Journal of Field Studies Vol. 5 p. 46
  Pape, T., 1935-6, North Staffordshire Journal of Field Studies Vol. 70 p. 65-66
  Thompson, H.V. and Huntbach, A., 1922-3, North Staffordshire Journal of Field Studies Vol. 57 p. 151-2

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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.
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