St Weonards Tump

Description

A Bronze Age round barrow was excavated in 1855 containing two cremations. It was re-used as a motte and in 1972 when field investigated it was 32 metres in diameter and 4.2 metres high and there is no evidence of a bailey or a surrounding ditch, although these could have been built over by later development. (PastScape)

earthwork and buried remains of a motte castle, situated on a natural knoll c.75m south west of St Weonard's Church, in the middle of the village, which itself sits on a slight ridge between The Gamber and Garren Brook. The remains include an earthen mound, of circular form, up to 34m in diameter and c.4m high. The motte's steep sides have been cut into in the south west quarter by a domestic hardstanding, and from the south east by an early investigation which has left a hollow, 3m wide at the edge and c.7m wide by c.2m deep at the centre of the mound. A disused water tank, 1.5m x 2.5m, is sunk into the summit of the mound to a depth of c.1.2m. The motte is planted with evergreen and deciduous trees and has a thick cover of ivy and brambles. It is fenced to the south and east, with a small area of garden adjacent to the aforementioned hardstanding. To the north and west the mound descends steeply to the back of neighbouring houses and gardens. Material for the construction of the mound will have been quarried from a surrounding ditch, the remains of which were visible to the east until the new school road was built in 1967. The encroachment of houses, roads, and a water pipe to the south of the mound, has removed or modified evidence for this feature elsewhere. The excavation of the mound in 1855 revealed two burnt human burials under a cover of stones. This suggests that the knoll was originally the site of a prehistoric burial mound, or round barrow, which was adapted for defensive purposes in the medieval period. One writer in the mid-19th century noted the mound's history of use for fetes and dancing, suggesting that its significance as a focus of community activity survived this period of military use. (Scheduling Report)