Gumley Cat Gruff (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Danes Camp; The Mot; The Mount

In the civil parish of Gumley.
In the historic county of Leicestershire.
Modern Authority of Leicestershire.
1974 county of Leicestershire.
Medieval County of Leicestershire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SP67888989
Latitude 52.50282° Longitude -1.00139°

Gumley Cat Gruff has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

The motte comprises a flat-topped, circular mound approximately 40m in diameter and 4m tall with an area of about 15m across the top. The surrounding ditch is very silted and has a width of 5-6m and generally less than 0.5m deep. A levelled area up to 9m exists outside the motte ditch, after which the ground falls away sharply on all sides except the east. (PastScape–scheduling report)

The mound occupies the southern end of a spur. It is bowl-shaped, with a flat top, c.20.0m in average diameter. It is surrounded by a ditch, 3.0m wide and 0.3m deep; and is under grass and trees. The mound is known locally as The Mount and regarded as an antiquity though without exact definition as to its reputed purpose (a). Its position, size and profile suggest it may be a motte; although no evidence of a bailey was found. However, it is placed in former parkland, with ornamental lakes to the south and north-west, and it is possible that it is a comparatively recent gazebo-mound or ornamental landscaping. (PastScape–Field Investigators Comments-W C Woodhouse/28-MAR-1960/Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigator)

Comments

The mound is just outside but still close to village, so may represent a more prominent and better fortified manorial centre than the probable Saxon original, although this scenario is rare. Creighton considers it likely to be a prospect mound despite it being scheduled as a motte. The Scheduling does report that there was a possible moated site to the south, contemporary with the motte which has been levelled. If so the mound would be rather less isolated in the medieval landscape but such a form - isolated motte near to but not adjacent to a moated site - whilst not unknown is rare. In such a circumstance the motte can really only have function as a symbolic feature. Later adaptation as a prospect mound is not excluded by such a scenario.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1012571, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 17048
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 341992.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MLE9433.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Abaroth's World
Books
- Knox, Richard, 2015, 'The medieval fortified sites of Leicestershire and Rutland' in Medieval Leicestershire: Recent research on the Medieval Archaeology of Leicester (Liecestershire Fieldworks 3) p. 123-42
  Cantor, Leonard, 2003, The Scheduled Ancient Monument of Leicestershire and Rutland (Leicester: Kairos Press) p. 32-3
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 36
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 253
Periodical Articles
- Creighton, O.H., 1997, 'Early Leicestershire Castles: Archaeology and Landscape History' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol. 71 p. 29 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Creighton, O.H., 1998, Castles and Landscapes: An Archaeological Survey of Yorkshire and the East Midlands (PhD Thesis University of Leicester) p. 386-7 online copy

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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.

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