Belan Bank, Kinnerley

Description

Belan Bank motte and bailey castle survives well and is a good example of its class. The terraced form of the motte is of interest as it suggests an unusual adaptation of the standard motte and bailey form. Although part of the upper motte has been removed, the larger part survives intact and will retain archaeological information relating to its age, construction and the character of occupation. The bailey also survives intact and apparently undisturbed, and will contain valuable archaeological information relating to the nature of the buildings contained within it and to activities undertaken within the castle confines. Environmental evidence relating to the landscape in which the monument was constructed will be preserved beneath the motte and the ramparts and in the various ditch fills. Such motte and bailey castles contribute valuable information concerning the settlement pattern, economy and social structure of the countryside during the medieval period.
The monument includes the remains of Belan Bank motte and bailey castle situated at the western end of a low rise of ground south of the village of Kinnerley and approximately 4.5km east of the Welsh border. It is believed that it was originally called Eggelawe. The castle includes a castle mound, or motte, set within the northern half of a sub-rectangular bailey. The motte is of an unusual form with a small central mound set upon a larger earthwork platform. The lower platform of the motte is roughly circular in plan with an overall diameter of 50m and rises 1.5m above the level of the surrounding bailey. A surrounding ditch, which separates the motte from the bailey, remains visible as a slight, but distinct surface depression averaging 4m wide and 0.3m deep. Set upon the lower platform, slightly north of centre, is the motte proper. It has been quarried in its southern quarter so that, in its present form, it is a crescent-shaped mound. However vestiges of the southern rim of the mound survive showing that in its original form it was a roughly circular earthen mound 25m in diameter at its base. The summit of the mound stands up to 3m above the level of the lower platform and would have originally been circular with a diameter of approximately 16m. The berm which has been created between the central scarp and edge of the lower platform varies in width between 10m around the south side, and 5m around the north. A timber palisade probably once ran around the outer edge of the berm, forming an inner ward between it and the motte keep.
Surrounding the motte is a well defined sub-rectangular bailey with internal dimensions of 85m north to south by 78m east to west. The bailey is bounded around all sides by a pronounced scarp varying between 1.8m high in the south west and 1.3m high in the north east. Around the whole east side of the bailey the defences are strengthened by the addition of an inner bank averaging 6m wide and 0.4m high. An outer ditch can be traced as a well defined depression up to 8m wide and 0.3m deep around the north east, east and south sides of the bailey. Around the west and north sides of the bailey the ditch is no longer visible, having been replaced by a substantial field drain. Midway along the east side of the bailey is the probable location of the original entrance. Here the inner bank is interrupted for 6m, the outer scarp is slightly lowered and there are slight indications of a causeway crossing the ditch. In the south east angle of the bailey is a shallow rectangular depression measuring approximately 12m east to west by 10m north to south which probably represents the site of a building. A small circular hollow 4m in diameter and 1m deep surrounded by a low bank 0.5m wide and 0.1m high is cut into the inner bank at the north east corner of the bailey. The lower levels of the hollow are lined with the remains of metal shuttering and it has the overall appearance of an abandoned military foxhole.
The site stands in an area formerly used by the military, amidst a series of World War II storage bunkers. Each bunker was originally linked by a tramway system, the tramlines of which remain recognisable as a series of interlinking, low, flat topped banks 4m wide and 0.1m high. One such bank crosses roughly north east to south west close to the south eastern corner of the motte and bailey. The monument boundary is extended in this area to contain this portion of the tramway to preserve the stratigraphic relationship between it and the castle earthworks. (Scheduling Report)

Comments

Probably the same as Eggelawe mentioned in 1212.