Bratton Fleming Mound (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Bratton Fleming.
In the historic county of Devonshire.
Modern Authority of Devon.
1974 county of Devon.
Medieval County of Devon.

OS Map Grid Reference: SS64513783
Latitude 51.12369° Longitude -3.93743°

Bratton Fleming Mound has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

There is a possible motte on the west slope of the hill north-east of the church. The identification is supported by the field names Castle Field, Castle Moor, Castle Meadow, and Castle Farm, in the immediate vicinity (Grinsell).
Castle Farm formerly stood at SS64493781, and the fields with significant names are the three extending immediately to the W of this point. The mound stands at SS64513783 (Field Investigators Comments-F1 MHB 16-JUL-73).
During the summer season a trial excavation was made at the base of the earthwork in Bratton Fleming which it is thought may be the remains of a site fortified by le Fleming, Lord of the manor of Bratton on the late 11th or early 12th centuries. The trial trench was inconclusive. (NDAS).
A segment of a mound about 30.0m across and up to 2.0m high. It appears to be the N end of a natural spur, but may have been artificially scarped. Its origin as a motte is doubtful (Field Investigators Comments-F1 MHB 26-JUL-73). (PastScape)

Mound possible motte. There is a possible motte on west slope of hill, north-east of church. Identification supported by field names 'Castle Field', 'Castle Moor', 'Castle Meadow, and 'Castle Farm' in the immediate vicinity (Grinsell 1970).
A segment of a mound appears to be north end of natural spur but may have been artificially scarped. Its origin as a motte is doubtful (Ordnance Survey, 1973, OS SS63NW 8 (Site Visit)).
A truncated mound which strong local tradition says is a castle. The wall now truncating the mound was built sometime after 1839. The surviving N half is 22m on long axis and 6m wide x 3m high & flat-topped. Low berm at its foot. Foundation date unknown, but probably in the 11th or 12th centuries (Higham 1979). (Devon and Dartmoor HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 34584.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 12056.

Books
- Higham, Robert A., 1999, 'Castles, Fortified Houses and Fortified Towns in the Middle Ages' in Kain, R. and Ravenhill, W., Historical Atlas of South-West England (University of Exeter Press) p. 136-43
  Salter, Mike, 1999, The Castles of Devon and Cornwall (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 87 (slight)
  Grinsell, L.V., 1970, The archaeology of Exmoor: Bideford Bay to Bridgwater p. 134, 213
Periodical Articles
- Higham, R.A., 1988, 'Devon Castles: an annotated list' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol. 46 p. 142-9
  Higham, R.A., 1982, 'Early Castles in Devon' Château Gaillard Vol. 9-10 p. 101-116
  1964, 'Hon. Sec. Report' North Devon Archaeological Society
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Higham, R.A., 1979, The Castles of Medieval Devon (University of Exeter PhD Thesis) Downloadable from EThOS

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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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