Ayleford Cern Hill (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Newnham.
In the historic county of Gloucestershire.
Modern Authority of Gloucestershire.
1974 county of Gloucestershire.
Medieval County of Gloucestershire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO66510885
Latitude 51.77731° Longitude -2.48680°

Ayleford Cern Hill has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

Upon the tree covered summit of a grassy knoll in an angle in the valley of the Soudley Brook at Two Bridges, are slight but clear remains of a probable ring motte. The defensive situation is excellent with steep slopes dipping away from the edges of the work to the valley below except to a ridge to the east. The earthen bank measures overall 17.6 metres east to west by 15.5 metres north to south. It averages 6.5 metres in width and 0.2 metres in height, except on the east where it rises 0.7 metres on sloping ground. In the north-east side is a slight lowering of the bank suggestive of an entrance (Field Investigators Comments F1 ASP 30-AUG-84). (PastScape)

Comments

Marked as 'motte' on modern OS map but not marked on earlier OS maps. Not noted by D.J.C. King. On the edge of the Forest of Dean in an area of dispersed settlement. Tree covered and earthworks not clear on air photograph. Not now near a farmstead but not entirely improbably as a small manor centre although the fine and recent VCH (Currie, C.R.J. and Herbert, N.M., 1996, VCH Gloucester Vol. 5 Parish of Awre where 7 manors in the parish are detailed) does not record a manor here. The reason for the identification of this earthwork as a medieval ring motte rather than an Iron Age enclosure is unclear but may be based on a similarity to St Briavels Stow Green. There does not seem to be any dating evidence. On the bases of a lack of historical evidence to support this as a manorial site, the apparent similarity to prehistoric earthworks and the lack of dating evidence Gatehouse considers this as an unlikely castle site.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 111597.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 18442.

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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.
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