Peel Hall Motte (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Horton Cum Peel.
In the historic county of Cheshire.
Modern Authority of Cheshire.
1974 county of Cheshire.
Medieval County of Cheshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ49896965
Latitude 53.22158° Longitude -2.75198°

Peel Hall Motte has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are no visible remains.

Description

This site has been considered by some writers to be a castle but is rejected as such by Hogg and King as is considered to be a moated house. However, in the later Castellarium Anglicanum King considers it a possible motte (Had King forgotten his earlier dismissal or had he reconsider it?). PastScape records 'Remains of a moat and motte and bailey which were bulldozed in 1948.' This was a mound in the grounds of Peel Hall measuring '50ft in circumference' (sic - ? diameter) with gazebo on top. A medieval pele tower is said to have stood within a moat at the site of the current Hall.

Earthworks and structures alleged by previous authorities to a form a moat or motte and bailey are in fact remains of a formal garden arrangement associated with the Hall. Although now much degraded and visible as only as a roughly circular ditch or sunken area some 10m wide and 0.2m deep with an overall diameter of 54-56m, the earthworks are pricipally the remains of a ditched ornamental mound or mount, originally 54m in diameter overall with the mound itself 37m in diameter: a structure on the mound may have been a summerhouse or gazebo. There is evidence that this mound was part of a more extensive formal garden which has been subjected to changes in layout throughout the history of the house. (Everson)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 68940.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 1902/2/2.

Books
- Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 21 (slight)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 69 (possible)
  Allcroft, A. Hadrian, 1908, Earthwork of England (London) p. 443 online copy
  Ormerod, G., 1819, History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol. 2 p. 180 (tenurial history) online copy
Periodical Articles
- Wilshaw, E., 1983, Cheshire Archaeological Bulletin Vol. 9 p. 34
  Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1970, 'Castles in Wales and the Marches (Additions and corrections to lists published in 1963 and 1967)' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 119 p. 119-124
  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)
  Jackson, S., 1960, The Cheshire Historian Vol. 10
  Lawrence, C.F., 1912, Cheshire Notes and Queries Vol. 10 p. 190-1
  Cash, S., 1897, Cheshire Notes and Queries Vol. 2 p. 190-1
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Everson, Paul, 1986, RCHME: Peel Hall Survey

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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.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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