GATEHOUSE
The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
Home
The listings
Other Info
Books
Links
Downloads
Contact
 
Print Page 
 
Next Record 
Previous Record 
Back to list 

Buckerell Knap, Buckerell

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

OS Map Grid Reference: ST12710149
Latitude 50.80635° Longitude -3.23957°

Buckerell Knap, Buckerell has been described as a Timber Castle but is rejected as such.

There are uncertain remains.

Description

Buckerell Knap and Bushey Knap were thought by Hutchinson and his fellow antiquarian, N.S. Heineken, to have been barrows and the whole ridge fortified by artificial scarping. In June 1859 Hutchinson drew his first plan and his description was followed by J.C. Wall in 1906, but it differs from the details recorded by Heineken at the same time. In 1871 he made an amended plan for his History of Sidmouth, but in 1882 published a plan in agreement with Heineken's original description. In this description Buckerell Knap is said to have at its north end a large oval mound 200 feet in diameter; a rhomboidal mound 130 feet in diameter, trenched all round, to the south of it; and a ditch south of that across the whole width of the narrowest part of the ridge. The mound on Bushy Knap was 230 feet in diameter and 13 feet high. All the mounds have been excavated at their centres. In the middle of the field to the north of Buckerell Knap they found in 1874 some stones which might have been another barrow and, on the west side of the ridge, some prominent banks above a scythe-stone quarry. Described by Kirwan as being five large bell-barrows.
The only artificial works on Buckerell Knap are certain very slight banks and ditches of uncertain purpose, though some are probably field banks. There is nothing here to suggest a camp and any scarping has been due to natural causes (Ralegh-Radford).
There is no evidence of antiquity on Buckerell Knap or Bushey Knap and any scarping may be associated with quarrying at ST 13200104 and surface quarrying along the ridge. The mound at Buckerell Knap, apparently natural, has two ditches south of it 30.0m in length which are probably old boundary ditches. (F1 NVQ 27-NOV-53). (PastScape)

The positioning of a motte and bailey atop Buckerell Knap has all the defensive requirements of an early post-conquest setting dealing with the Southwest uprisings of 1067-9, building implemented by Ralph de Pomeroy. (Hawken 2004-7)
Comments

These earthworks on a wooded hilltop have be examined numerous times by eye, but not otherwise, by numerous people with numerous interpretations. Very experienced field archaeologist Norman Quinnell rejected these as an antiquity. David King, who made a point of visiting and survey all castle sites, rejected this as a castle site. Leading academic castelologist Bob Higham also rejected this as a castle. Hawken is unknown to Gatehouse and the title ('two previously unreport motte and baileys') of the unpublished report given in the Devon HER is not suggestive of the most rigorous of papers (since the site has previously been identified). Pending scientific investigation and dating evidence the site may remain uncertain but the isolated location is not typical of a medieval castle and is certainly not the sort of place where a group of mounted knights dealing with the 1067-9 uprising would camp up (as what they would require was a safe enclosure for their equipment and horses, not a high look out point. N.B. the strong enclosure at Hembury was only a mile away).
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
PastScape   County HER            
Maps >
Streetmap   NLS maps   Where's the path   Old-Maps      
Data/Maps > 
Magic   V. O. B.   Geology   LiDAR   Open Domesday  
Air Photos > 
Bing Maps   Google Maps   Getmapping   ZoomEarth      
Photos >
CastleFacts   Geograph   Flickr   Panoramio      

Sources of information, references and further reading
Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.
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.
Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.
This record last updated 26/07/2017 09:21:53

Home | Books | Links | Fortifications and Castles | Other Information | Help | Downloads | Author Information | Contact
¤¤¤¤¤