Radcliffe on Trent (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Radcliffe on Trent.
In the historic county of Nottinghamshire.
Modern Authority of Nottinghamshire.
1974 county of Nottinghamshire.
Medieval County of Nottinghamshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SK64493883
Latitude 52.94299° Longitude -1.04176°

Radcliffe on Trent has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are no visible remains.

Description

The excavated remains of a Medieval motte and bailey. The mound was 90ft in diameter and 4ft high. A rectangular earthwork was also found. Both mound and earthwork have a deep ditch on the north side, 36ft wide and 8ft deep. Near the middle of the mound pottery dating to circa 1200AD was found along with medieval tile and a boar's tusk. Tudor brick and C19 pottery was also found. The site has now been levelled. (PastScape)

Excavated by author in the summer of 1951. The mound is 90 feet in diameter and 6-8 feet high, surmounted by a tall elm, c.180-200 years old. The nearby farm is of the same age. A 'rectangular eminence', 15 yards east of the mound, is 241 feet long, 77 feet wide and c. 3 feet high. Both mound and earthwork have a deep ditch on the north side, 36 feet wide and 8 feet deep. At the east end of the ditch is a pond constructed c.100 years ago. There are several smaller 'tumps' to the west of the mound and the field on the south is high rig-and-furrow. Near the middle of the mound, c.1200 A.D. dark green pottery was found at 1' 10" and a post-hole 8" diameter, filled with sandstone and charcoal. Md. tile fragments a 13th C. green glazed sherd and a boar's tusk were also found at the centre. Fragments of early Tudor brick were noticed. The rectangular mound yielded little except for 19th C. potsherds from the surface probably derived from the soil of the pond being spread on it. The author identifies the earthworks as a motte and bailey, 'well drained against flood', and suggests the 'tumps' to be the remains of Md. 'huts'. A well, c. 8 feet deep, still exists. A section cut across the adjoining rig and furrow revealed charcoal with 18/19th C. potsherds. The furrows contained an inverted U drain-pipe popular after 1783. (PastScape ref. Houldsworth)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 319673.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) L7996.

Books
- King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. lxvii
Periodical Articles
- Houldsworth, Herbert O., 1951, 'Notes on an excavation at Radcliffe-on-Trent' Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire Vol. 55 p. 23-25
  Oswald, Adrian, 1939 , 'Some unrecorded earthworks in Nottinghamshire' Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire Vol. 43 p. 1-15

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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.

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