Castle Batch, Worle (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Weston Super Mare.
In the historic county of Somerset.
Modern Authority of North Somerset.
1974 county of Avon.
Medieval County of Somerset.

OS Map Grid Reference: ST36176370
Latitude 51.36882° Longitude -2.91817°

Castle Batch, Worle has been described as a certain Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

The motte at Castle Batch represents a rare survival in this area and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.
The monument includes a motte castle situated on a low carboniferous limestone ridge overlooking the surrounding levels. The motte, known as Castle Batch, has an artificial mound c.3m high with a maximum diameter of 42m. There is a hollow area c.1m deep within the top of the mound and there is a possible entrance situated on the north side of the monument. Surrounding the motte is a ditch from which material was quarried during its construction. This ditch ranges from c.8m to c.10m in width and is c.0.5m deep despite having been largely infilled over the years. There is no evidence for a bailey associated with the motte, although the surrounding area has been landscaped during the recent past, possibly obscuring further archaeological remains. (Scheduling Report)

Earthwork remains of a well preserved motte. The mound is 160ft in diameter, 17ft high, with a hollow in the centre 75ft in diameter. It is surrounded by a shallow ditch, 15 to 25ft wide with an entrance on the south west. The ditch has been partly obliterated by ploughing and modern field banks. (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1011131, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 22837
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 192666.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 00202.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Wikipedia entry
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
Books
- Prior, Stuart, 2006, A Few Well-Positioned Castles: The Norman Art of War (Tempus) p. 68-109
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 87
  Dunning, Robert, 1995, Somerset Castles (Somerset Books) p. 31-2
  Aston, M., Iles, R. (eds), 1989, The Archaeology of Avon p. 123
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 445
  Aston, M. and Burrow, I., 1982, The Archaeology of Somerset (Taunton: Somerset County Council) p. 124
  Burrow, Edward J., 1924, Ancient Earthworks and Camps of Somerset (Cheltenham and London) p. 148
  Knight, Frances A., 1902, The Sea-Board of Mendip (London: J.M. Dent and co.) p. 248 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Minnitt, S. and Murless, B.J. (eds), 1978-9, 'Somerset Archaeology, 1978' Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol. 123 p. 104
  King, D.J. Cathcart and Alcock, L., 1966, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard, 3
  Evans, J., 1979, Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol. 123 p. 104
  Bramble, J.R., 1905, Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol. 51 p. 16-83
  Clark, G.T., 1889, 'Contribution towards a complete list of moated mounds or burhs' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 46 p. 197-217 esp. 211 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Russett, V. (ed), 2011, Castle Batch, Worle (Yatton, Congresbury, Claverham and Cleeve Archaeological Research Team 2011/Y9) online copy
  Prior, Stuart, 2004, _"Winning Strategies" An Archaeological Study of Norman Castles in the Landscapes of Somerset, Monmouthshire and County Meath, 1066-1186 (PhD thesis; University of Bristol) Vol. 2 p. 119 Download via EThOS

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.

Data >	PastScape	County HER	Scheduling
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