Coddington Mud Hill (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Coddington.
In the historic county of Cheshire.
Modern Authority of Cheshire.
1974 county of Cheshire.
Medieval County of Cheshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ452552
Latitude 53.09176° Longitude -2.81862°

Coddington Mud Hill has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Consists of a flat-topped mound of red sand 32m diameter & up to 2.5m high, with a surrounding ditch 7m wide and 0.5m deep. The size and shape of the mound seem indicative of a late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age ditched bowl barrow. (Cheshire HER)

The field in which the mound lies is known as Mud Field, which is probably a corruption of Moot Field (PastScape–ref. field investigator 1964). The mound is over-large for a barrow hereabouts, and would appear to be a motte. It is situated on the W bank of the Coddington Brook near the church, and commands an extensive view in all directions except to the S. It's top is flat and measures 12.0m N of S by 10.0m E to W. (PastScape–ref. field investigator 1976)

In a field opposite is an immense tumulus, composed of red sand, about 26 yards in height, and 100 yards in circumference at the base. A considerable portion of it has been removed, but it has not penetrated to the centre. Nothing was discovered in this operation which can lead to any conjectures as to the object or the period of its formation. (Ormerod–26 yards high must be an error presumably he meant 26 feet)

Thought to be either a possible Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age ditched bowl barrow, or a possible castle (King 1983, 69; CHER 1824). However, its location and comital manorial tenure point to a definite motte. The motte is 32m in diameter and c. 2.5m high, with the surrounding ditch 7m wide 0.5 m deep (King 1983, 69; CHER 1824). It coomands an extensive view in all directions, except to the south. (Swallow 2016)

Comments

Isolated now very small mound in field near church, no sign of bailey. Mentioned as possible castle by King (based on OS report), who did fully inspect the site, although King tended to use possible when he had serious doubts about a site. Swallow appears more certain of it as a motte. The ditch is visible on lidar but difficult to see with the eye on site. Prior to July 2016 recorded as 'questionable' in this database. Given Swallows comments re-graded to 'possible' although Gatehouse still has some doubts.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1007389, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 22588
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 68732.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 1824.

Books
- Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 21 (slight)
  Harris, B.E. and Thacker, A.T. (eds), 1987, VCH Cheshire Vol. 1 p. 82
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 69 (possible)
  Ormerod, G., 1882 (2edn), History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol. 2 p. 371
  Ormerod, G., 1819, History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol. 2 p. 398 (tenurial history) online copy
Periodical Articles
- Swallow, Rachel, 2016, 'Cheshire Castles of the Irish Sea Cultural Zone' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 173.2 p. 288-341
  Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1963, 'Early castles in Wales and the Marches: a preliminary list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 112 p. 77-124 (possible)

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.

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